FCS File - opening and understanding
Did your computer fail to open a FCS file? We explain what they are used for and recommend software that we know can open or otherwise handle your .FCS files.
What is a FCS file?
A .FCS file is a Flow Cytometry Standard format file. These FCS files contain the textual data and binary data used while reading and writing data from flow cytometry experiments. This data is saved in an array format for analysis. The binary data has three segments: Text segments that contain metadata, segments that contain a matrix of detected expression values, and an analysis segment.
How to open FCS files
You will need a program compatible with the specific file you are trying to open, as different programs may use files with file extension FCS for different purposes.
While we have not verified the apps ourselves yet, our users have suggested 6 different FCS openers which you will find listed below.
Other file formats using extension .FCS
While Flow Cytometry Standard format is a popular type of FCS-file, we know of 2 different uses of the .FCS extension.
The FCS file extension indicates to your device which app can open the file. However, different apps may use the same file extension for different types of data. So a FCS opener may not be able to open all kinds of FCS files. In this case, look through both formats to make sure you find the best suited FCS viewer.
Foobar 2000 Columns UI settings
Through our analysis of FCS files, we know that one use of the format is Foobar 2000 Columns UI settings. We have not yet described in detail what these files contain and what they are used for, but our team is working tiredlessly through thousands of file formats. We'd love hearing from you if you have information about the format.
While we have not verified the apps ourselves yet, our users have suggested 6 different FCS openers which you will find listed below.
Various viewers for this file format
These apps are known to open certain types of FCS files. Remember, different programs may use FCS files for different purposes, so you may need to try out a few of them to be able to open your specific file.
 | Focus Photoeditor | User submitted |
 | Focus Photoeditor SE | User submitted |
 | Foobar2000 RusXPack | User submitted |
 | Foobar2000 XPack | User submitted |
 | FineCrypt | User submitted |
 | Foobar2000 zPack | User submitted |
Not sure exactly what type of file you are trying to open? Try our new File Analyzer. It is a free tool that can identify more than 11,000 different kinds of files - most likely yours too! It will help you find software that can handle your specific type of file. Download File Analyzer here.