What is a PAF File and How to Open or Convert It?

A file with a .paf extension can be associated with various applications and sources. Here is a rundown of different uses of the PAF file:

The Personal Ancestral File (PAF) software can store genealogical data, including family trees, names, relationships, dates, notes, and sources, in the PAF file format.

PAF can also stand for PortableApps Format, often used with the .exe extension, denoted as .paf.exe. This file represents an installer for an application designed to run on the Portablepps platform.

In bioinformatics, PAF is short for Pairwise mApping Format, a plain text table format used primarily by tools such as Minimap2 for aligning long sequencing reads to a reference genome.

If you’re a player of the game Heart of Darkness, you may have encountered some PAF files. PAF here refers to Packed Animation File, a file container that hosts multimedia data such as audio, video, and other game assets.

Additionally, the PAF file format can also function as an audio format, specifically designed for the digital audio workstation Ensoniq PARIS. These .paf files contain high-quality, uncompressed, or minimally compressed audio data.

To open a PAF file, you need to first identify the file type or its source, because as mentioned earlier, PAF can stand for different file formats. Based on the PAF format type, we have listed some solutions to open them. Check out the table below for a quick reference.

The Ensoniq PARIS audio workstation has long been discontinued and its PAF file format is outdated as well. If you come across these PAF audio files and want to play them on modern devices, the best solution is to convert them to a more common format like MP3.

WonderFox HD Video Converter Factory Pro is perfect for this job. This versatile converter can help batch convert your Ensoniq PARIS PAF files to MP3, WAV, FLAC, AAC, AC3, WMA, AU, or other audio formats you need. Additionally, it also enables you to process some .paf video files from Heart of Darkness game.

Now, let’s see how to convert .paf files effortlessly with this competent converter on a PC.

Click the Download for free button below to download and install the unregistered version of HD Video Converter Factory Pro for a free trial. However, the conversion time for each file is limited to 5 minutes.

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Launch the program and enter ‘Converter’. Straightly drag and drop your source .paf files into the conversion workspace. Alternatively, you can hit the ‘Add Files’ or ‘Add Video Folder’ button to import your files.

Click the format image on the right to open the full list of 600+ ready-made profiles, which are grouped into 5 categories: Video, 4K/HD, Web, Audio, Device. Choose your target format, such as ‘MP3’ under the ‘Audio’ tab.

Optionally, you can open ‘Parameter settings’ to edit the output codec, resolution, bitrate, frame rate, audio encoder, sample rate, channel, etc.

Hit the ▼ button to specify an output folder.

Finally, click the 'Run' button to start converting your PAF files at once.

If you still have trouble processing the PAF file format or run into other rare formats and need some help, feel free to DM us on X or Facebook.

You can also follow our YouTube Channel for more troubleshooting tips on multimedia content.

Thanks for reading. Have a nice day!