View MS SQL .BAK Files

Viewing MSSQL .bak Files

• To view the contents of a .bak file you will need use a program such as SQL Management Studio. Using a text editor will not work as .bak files are not text based files and only contain raw data.

• The best way to view a .bak file is to create a MSSQL database on your local system and restore the .bak file into it. Once you've done this you can view the tables in SQL Management Studio and view the database content.

Need to backup or restore you MSSQL Database? Visit our How to Backup and Restore MSSQL Databases Page.