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Remove duplicate photos
Upload up to 100 shots — the service removes exact duplicates and returns a ZIP with unique photos only, complete with a progress bar.
Tools for working with files
Any task with a file — open, compress, convert, edit or repair — is solved with the right tool. The problem is that there are thousands of tools: online services, desktop programs, browser extensions, command-line utilities.
For example: PDF ⇄ Word·Compress photos·Identify file format
Updated: 2026Reading time ~10 minSection: Tools
Without a guide it is easy to install a heavy “combine” where a single button would have been enough, or to upload a private document to a dubious site.
This page is a navigator through the world of file tools. We split them into five working categories, explained when each is needed, and gathered links to detailed breakdowns.
The essentials in 30 seconds
- Converters — change a file's format (PDF↔DOCX, PNG↔WebP).
- Archivers — pack and compress (ZIP, 7z, RAR).
- Viewers — open a file for viewing without installing its “native” program.
- Editors — change the content.
- Developer utilities — formatters, validators, diff, hex editors, hash.
Loadfile tools — they run right in your browser
Upload a file and solve your task without installing any programs. Some tools process files locally and send nothing to the server.
New
PDF ⇄ Word converter
Convert a PDF into editable Word or build a PDF from DOCX — online, with preview, for free.
Local
Detect file format
Find out the real file type by its signature (magic bytes) — in batches, right in the browser. Files are not uploaded anywhere.
New
Merge PDF
Combine 2 to 30 PDFs into one document right in the browser — keeping the order, with no upload to a server.
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Split PDF
Split a PDF into individual pages, selected ranges or parts of N pages — locally, without sending any files.
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JPG to PDF
Combine photos (JPG and PNG) into a single PDF: page size, margins and orientation, taking photo rotation into account.
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WebP to JPG converter
Convert WebP into the familiar JPG right in the browser — in batches, with a quality choice, without uploading to a server.
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PNG to JPG converter
Reduce the weight of a PNG by converting it to JPG: choice of quality and background color for transparent areas.
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SVG to PNG converter
Rasterize vector into a PNG of the size you need: ×1/×2/×4 presets or custom sizes, transparent background.
New
Compress photos online
Reduce the weight of JPG, PNG and WebP: “for email” and “for website” presets, before/after preview.
New
File checksum
Compute and verify SHA-256, MD5, CRC32 right in the browser — files up to 5 GB, with a comparison against a reference hash.
New
Fix encoding
Remove garbled characters from text, .txt and CSV: automatic encoding detection and saving as UTF-8, locally.
New
View and remove EXIF
Check whether a photo has a geotag and remove its metadata. For JPEG — with no loss of quality.
Dangerous extensions map
60 formats you should never open with a double click. A reference guide plus a printable cheat sheet (PDF) for colleagues.
How to choose a tool: 4 questions
Before you google “how to open .heic” or “how to compress a PDF”, answer four questions for yourself — this narrows the choice right away.
What are you doing with the file?
Viewing — you need a viewer. Changing the format — a converter. Changing the content — an editor. Reducing the size of a batch — an archiver.
Is the file private?
A contract, a passport scan, a work database — such files are better not uploaded to someone else's servers. For them, choose desktop programs.
How often?
A one-off task — use an online service. A regular one — install a program or learn a CLI utility.
What is your level?
A “Convert” button suits most people. If you are a developer and want to automate — look toward the command line.
File converters
A converter takes a file in one format and returns it in another: PDF to Word, PNG to WebP, video to audio. This is the most in-demand category.
When you need it: you received a file that won't open; you need to upload a document to a system that accepts only a certain format; you want to reduce the weight of an image by changing its format.
What to look at: preservation of quality; batch processing; privacy (for confidential documents — offline tools).
Archivers
An archiver solves two tasks: packing many files into a single container and compressing. ZIP, 7z, RAR, tar.gz — these are all archive formats.
When you need it: you're sending a folder with dozens of files; you downloaded a .rar or .7z and can't open it; you want to shrink a large archive of documents.
What to look at: format support (at least ZIP and 7z); compression ratio; encryption (AES-256 for sensitive data).
Important about compression
Already compressed formats (JPEG, MP4, MP3) will barely shrink with an archiver. The real savings are on texts, spreadsheets and source code.
Viewers — open and look
A viewer simply shows a file's content — with no way to change anything. It saves the day when there is no “native” program.
When you need it: open a rare format “just to look”; quickly flip through a file without installing a heavy program; view it on someone else's computer without administrator rights.
What to look at: breadth of formats; speed; safety (“view only” mode doesn't run macros).
Editors
An editor changes a file's content itself. The category splits by the type of content:
Text and code editors
From “Notepad” to full-fledged IDEs. For code — with syntax highlighting, autocompletion and encoding support (UTF-8 versus Windows-1251 is a frequent source of garbled characters).
Graphics editors
Change images: cropping, retouching, layers, color correction.
PDF editors
Edit text right inside a PDF, merge and split documents, add signatures, fill in forms.
Audio and video editors
Cut, join, apply effects, change volume and format.
Developer utilities
A whole separate universe of tools — for those who work with files as data and code.
Formatters and beautifiers — bring JSON, XML, HTML, SQL to a readable form.
Validators — check that JSON/YAML/XML are syntactically correct.
Diff tools — compare two versions of a file line by line.
Hex editors — show a file's “raw” bytes.
Hash calculators — compute MD5/SHA-256 to verify integrity.
Encoders — Base64, URL-encode, encoding conversion.
➡️ Related materials: Where to get code templates and boilerplate.
Online or desktop: what is safer
| Criterion | Online tools | Desktop / CLI |
|---|---|---|
| Installation | Not needed | Needed |
| Startup speed | Instant | Slower |
| File privacy | File goes to a server | File stays with you |
| Volumes and batches | Limited | Practically without limits |
| Working offline | No | Yes |
| Automation | Rarely | Yes (scripts, CLI) |
The rule is simple: a public or “one-off” file — use an online service. A private document, a large volume or a regular task — desktop or the command line.
FAQ
What is the difference between a converter and an editor?
A converter changes a file's format without touching its meaning. An editor changes the content itself — text, image, sound.
Is it safe to upload documents to online tools?
For public files — yes. For private ones — offline programs are better: an uploaded file physically ends up on someone else's server.
Do you have to pay for file tools?
In most cases, no. There are plenty of free converters, archivers, viewers and editors for everyday tasks.
Which archiver should a beginner choose?
One that supports ZIP and 7z and can unpack RAR. This set is enough in 99% of cases.
Read also
Tools
10 free online file converters
Need to convert a document, image or video to another format right in the browser? We gathered trusted services — with no installation or registration.
Resources
Where to get useful files legally
A map of trusted resources and a breakdown of the MIT, CC0, Apache, OFL licenses: where to legally get icons, fonts, UI kits, datasets and stock media.
Resources
Where to get code templates and boilerplate
Don't want to build a project structure from scratch? We gathered trusted boilerplate sets for frontend, backend and quick prototypes.
Conclusion
File tools fall into five clear categories: converters change the format, archivers pack, viewers show, editors edit the content, and developer utilities work with a file as data. The choice comes down to two questions: what you're doing with the file and how private it is.
Start with converters — the most common task
A comparison of free online services, their limits and what's important to know about the safety of uploading files.
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