PVF File

What are PVF files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening a PVF 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 PVF files.

What is a PVF file?

A .PVF file is a Portable Voice Format Audio file.

A Portable Voice Format Audio file is a speech-oriented sound recording used mostly with Unix voice modems and answering-machine software. It is created by the Vgetty (or mgetty/vgetty) package and its pvftools utilities to serve as a common intermediate format for recording, editing or converting spoken messages. Files in PVF are good for applications like telephony, voice prompts or message playback where speech intelligibility and small size matter more than musical fidelity.

PVF files are produced by converting from more common audio formats (such as WAV or AU) using tools like wavtopvf, voctopvf, etc. Within the vgetty workflow, PVF acts as a bridge format: once speech is in PVF, it can then be transformed into Raw Modem Data (RMD) for playback by modems, or processed (cut, filtered, changed in sample rate) with other tools. Commonly these files use mono audio, sample rates suitable for voice (e.g. 7200 or 8000 samples/sec), and sample sizes such as 8-bit PCM or various ADPCM bit-depths.

PVF files begin with a small text header: typically "PVF1" followed by three numbers: channel count, sample rate, and bits per sample, each separated by spaces and ending with a newline. For example "PVF1\n1 11025 32\n" indicates 1 channel, 11,025 Hz, 32-bit sample size. After the header, raw binary sample data follows in the specified format.

How to open PVF files

We have identified one PVF opener that is compatible with this specific type of PVF file.

Programs that open Portable Voice Format Audio files

Last updated: August 10, 2026

Various apps that use files with this extension

These apps are known to open certain types of PVF files. Remember, different programs may use PVF files for different purposes, so you may need to try out a few of them to be able to open your specific file.

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