CAQ File

What are CAQ files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening a CAQ file or are you simply curious about its contents? We're here to explain the properties of these files and provide you with software that can open or handle your CAQ files.

What is a CAQ file?

A .CAQ file is an Aquarius Cassette Tape Image file.

Aquarius Cassette Tape Image files store exact digital copies of data that was originally saved to cassette tapes for the Mattel Aquarius home computer. They are used by emulators and tools to simulate loading and saving programs exactly as the Aquarius machine would via its tape interface. Programs written in BASIC or machine code are converted into this tape-image format so they can be loaded into Aquarius emulators, preserved, or transferred back to physical cassette tape using WAV conversion.

These images are typically produced by tools such as appmake within the z88dk toolkit, or by utilities bundled with Aquarius emulators like Virtual Aquarius. The workflow involves converting tokenized BASIC programs, binary executables, or screen dumps into the .caq image; then emulators use commands like CLOAD to load the image, or they play converted WAV audio versions into real hardware via the cassette port.

How to open CAQ files

Important: Different programs may use files with the CAQ file extension for different purposes, so unless you are sure which format your CAQ file is, you may need to try a few different programs.

We have not yet verified any programs for Windows that work with this specific file format. If you know one, please use the 'Suggest a program' link below. Thanks!

Last updated: August 25, 2026

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