How do I open a .SAV file on Windows or Mac?

You can open .SAV files using IBM SPSS Statistics, PSPP (Free Open Source), R (haven package), Python (pyreadstat / pandas), Stata. If you do not have native software installed, you can use OpenAnyFile's free File Identifier or convert .SAV to a standard format in your browser.

Is a .SAV file safe to open?

This format carries a safety rating of Low Risk. Open for free without an SPSS license using GNU PSPP or Python pandas (pd.read_spss)

Can I convert a .SAV file to other formats?

Yes! .SAV can be converted to formats such as .CSV, .EXCEL, .RDATA directly in your web browser.

What should I do if a .SAV file is corrupted or won't open?

If your .SAV file displays an invalid header or signature error, check its magic bytes hex header (Varies) using OpenAnyFile's Magic Byte Detector or follow our step-by-step file repair guide.

How do I open .SAV files?

You can open .SAV files using IBM SPSS Statistics, PSPP (Free Open Source), R (haven package), Python (pyreadstat / pandas), Stata.

Medical & Science • MIME: application/x-spss-sav

.SAV – SAV File Format

Q: What is a .SAV file?

A .SAV file is a SAV File Format associated with Medical & Science. SAV is the binary database file format created by IBM SPSS Statistics, containing structured research survey responses, numeric variables, value labels, and dictionary metadata.

SAV is the binary database file format created by IBM SPSS Statistics, containing structured research survey responses, numeric variables, value labels, and dictionary metadata.

Primary Category Medical & Science

MIME Type application/x-spss-sav

Magic Bytes Signature Varies

Security Risk Rating Low Risk

Recommended Software to Open .SAV

IBM SPSS Statistics

windows, mac, linux • Free

PSPP (Free Open Source)

windows, mac, linux • Free

R (haven package)

windows, mac, linux • Free

Python (pyreadstat / pandas)

windows, mac, linux • Free

Stata

windows, mac, linux • Free