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

You can open .BAM files using SAMtools, IGV (Integrative Genomics Viewer), UCSC Genome Browser, UGENE, GATK (Genome Analysis Toolkit). If you do not have native software installed, you can use OpenAnyFile's free File Identifier or convert .BAM to a standard format in your browser.

Is a .BAM file safe to open?

This format carries a safety rating of Low Risk. Indexed using an accompanying .bai file for rapid random access in genome browsers

Can I convert a .BAM file to other formats?

Yes! .BAM can be converted to formats such as .SAM, .FASTQ, .CRAM directly in your web browser.

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

If your .BAM 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 .BAM files?

You can open .BAM files using SAMtools, IGV (Integrative Genomics Viewer), UCSC Genome Browser, UGENE, GATK (Genome Analysis Toolkit).

Medical & Science • MIME: application/octet-stream

.BAM – BAM File Format

Q: What is a .BAM file?

A .BAM file is a BAM File Format associated with Medical & Science. BAM is the compressed binary representation of Sequence Alignment Map (SAM) files, storing aligned high-throughput next-generation sequencing (NGS) reads against a reference genome.

BAM is the compressed binary representation of Sequence Alignment Map (SAM) files, storing aligned high-throughput next-generation sequencing (NGS) reads against a reference genome.

Primary Category Medical & Science

MIME Type application/octet-stream

Magic Bytes Signature Varies

Security Risk Rating Low Risk

Recommended Software to Open .BAM

SAMtools

windows, mac, linux • Free

IGV (Integrative Genomics Viewer)

windows, mac, linux • Free

UCSC Genome Browser

windows, mac, linux • Free

UGENE

windows, mac, linux • Free

GATK (Genome Analysis Toolkit)

windows, mac, linux • Free