.sav File Extension
File Type 1Nintendo DS Save File
| Developer | Nintendo |
| Category | Game files |
| File Format | Binary |
.SAV Type 1
A SAV file is a saved game used by Nintendo DS portable game system emulators such as DeSmuME and NO$GBA. It stores the state of the current game progress and includes game information such as the character name, experience points, completed levels, and in-game resources.
SAV files are often found with an .NDS Nintendo DS ROM file, and are sometimes required in order for the ROM to run properly. When transferring SAV files to a new Nintendo DS flash card, you must make sure that the file format is compatible or the saved game may not load.
Programs that open SAV files
File Type 2Saved Game
| Developer | N/A |
| Category | Game files |
| File Format | N/A |
.SAV Type 2
Generic extension used for saved files; typically used for saving progress in video games.
While .sav files have no general limits themselves, many gaming applications limit the number of SAV files that the program will accommodate. For example, one video game may only allow one SAV file while another may allow five. The data in each SAV file is specific to the game that it was created for.
Each SAV file stores specific data, unique to each game, and file structure and content can vary between different games despite them having the same file extension type. Therefore each game can only support SAV files created by the game, and SAV files are not cross-compatible with other game titles.
In some cases, a file with a .save extension will be created by other computer applications for backup and configuration purposes.
File Type 3SPSS Data File
| Developer | IBM |
| Category | Data files |
| File Format | Binary |
.SAV Type 3
Data file created by SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences), an application used for statistical analysis; saved in a proprietary binary format and contains a dataset as well as a dictionary that describes the dataset; saves data by "cases" (rows) and "variables" (columns).
SAV is a text file supporting multiple encoding standards, such as ASCII, EBCDIC, and Unicode, indicated by the first three bytes of the file. Its content can be divided into multiple identifiable parts.
The identifiable parts are as follows:
- File header
- Variable descriptor records
- Value labels (optional)
- Documents
- Extension records
- Dictionary terminator
- Data observations
SAV files are often used for storing datasets extracted from databases and Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. However, they can also save data that has been entered manually by the user or data that has been generated by the software.
SPSS datasets can be manipulated in a variety of ways using the SPSS engine, but they are most commonly used to perform statistical analysis tests such as regression analysis, analysis of variance, and factor analysis. Results can be graphed to a variety of supported chart types, including bar graphs, line graphs, scatter plots, and histograms.
File Type 4Fallout 2 Map Archive
| Developer | Bethesda Softworks |
| Category | Game files |
| File Format | Binary |
.SAV Type 4
Archive used by Fallout 2, a futuristic, role-playing video game; contains a .DB file that stores map data, which describes cities and other locations in the game.
SAV files are similar to Fallout 2 .MAP files but are compressed with GZIP compression. You can rename the "sav" extension to "gz" or "zip" and uncompress the archive with programs such as WinRAR.
| Windows |
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File Type 5Parallels Desktop Saved State Image File
| Developer | Parallels |
| Category | Backup files |
| File Format | Binary |
.SAV Type 5
File saved by Parallels Desktop, a program that allows users to run Windows from Mac computers; stores the state of the Parallels Desktop virtual machine (VM) when it is paused or suspended; used to load and save VM states.
SAV files store the state of the machine and all running applications when the VM is paused.
| Macintosh |
|
File Type 6Mass Effect 3 Saved Game
| Developer | Electronic Arts |
| Category | Game files |
| File Format | Binary |
.SAV Type 6
Saved game created by Mass Effect 3 (ME3), a galactic action role-playing game; stores the player's profile and includes mission progress, game items, and achievements.
ME3 SAV files are saved to the C:\Users\[user]\Documents\BioWare\Mass Effect 3\Save\ directory. A common SAV file is Local_Profile.sav.