.XPI file signature
A Compressed installation archive (XPI) file begins with the bytes 50 4B 03 04 (PK.. in ASCII) at the start of the file. The signature is the same whatever the file is named, which is why a renamed or extensionless XPI file is still recognisable.
Signature
| Offset | Hex | ASCII |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 50 4B 03 04A ZIP archive containing manifest.json. | PK.. |
MIME type: application/x-xpinstall · usual extensions: .xpi
How to check a file's signature
Without installing anything: drop the file on our detector. It reads the bytes in your browser and shows the hex dump alongside the verdict; nothing is uploaded.
macOS and Linux (Terminal):
xxd -l 32 file.xpi
file file.xpiWindows (PowerShell):
Format-Hex -Path file.xpi -Count 32If the bytes do not match
A file named .xpi whose first bytes are something else is not a XPI file. The common explanations are a wrong or deliberately misleading extension, a download that saved an HTML error page instead of the file, or a container such as ZIP wrapping the real content. The detector reports what the bytes say; the XPI guide explains what a genuine file should contain.