Opening a File

Drag and drop a file onto the editor window, or use the menu:

  • File → Open (Cmd+O on macOS, Ctrl+O on Windows/Linux)

The file loads immediately. Large files are handled efficiently — only the visible portion is read into memory at a time.

The main view consists of three columns:

Column Contents
Offset Byte position from the start of the file (hexadecimal)
Hex Raw byte values
ASCII Printable text representation

Scroll through the file using the mouse wheel or the scroll bar on the right.

To jump to a specific offset, use Go To from the menu and enter a hex address.

Selecting Bytes

Click and drag in either the hex or ASCII column to select a range of bytes. The selection is mirrored across both columns simultaneously.

Keyboard shortcuts for selection:

Action Shortcut
Select all Cmd+A / Ctrl+A
Extend selection Shift+Arrow keys

The status bar at the bottom shows the selection start offset, length, and end offset.

Searching

Press Cmd+F / Ctrl+F to open the search panel.

You can search by:

  • Hex bytes — enter space-separated hex values, e.g. FF D8 FF E0
  • Text string — enter plain text; use the case-sensitive toggle when needed

The editor highlights all matches in the file. Use the Next / Previous buttons or press Enter / Shift+Enter to navigate between results.

Schemas and Tags

Schemas are JSON files that describe the structure of a binary format. When you load a schema, the editor parses your file according to its structure and displays named, color-coded regions called tags — each with a name, offset, length, and interpreted value.

Tip

Tip: If you work with a known file format regularly, create a schema for it once and reuse it. The tag panel turns a wall of hex bytes into a readable, navigable structure.

Read more about JSON Schemas

Loading a Schema

File → Open Schema, then select a .json schema file.

The tag panel on the left will populate with the parsed structure. Hover over a tag to highlight the corresponding bytes in the hex view. Click a tag to jump to it.

What Schemas Support

  • Named fields with custom display colors
  • Integer and string types with formatting (hex, octal, decimal)
  • Dynamic field lengths — calculated from values of other fields
  • Conditional fields and arrays of repeated structures

Schema files for common formats (gzip, ZIP, and others) are included in the schemas/ directory.

Themes

Hex Editor ships with built-in themes. Switch between them in Settings:

  • Dark (default)
  • Light
  • Raspberry

Themes are JSON files — you can customize colors for every part of the interface or create your own.

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