What is the AFP file format?
.afp files belong to the category of cryptographic files - encrypted containers produced by the AndrosaSoft FileProtector application for Windows.
What do .afp files contain?
The contents of files with the .afp extension can be practically any resources that the user, for certain reasons, wants to restrict access to by third parties. Most often encrypted are:
- authentication data (logins and passwords),
- internet browser histories,
- records of conversations from network messengers,
- phone and address books,
- bank statements,
- private notes.
Files with the .afp extension are created by FileProtector, a Windows-only encryption utility developed by AndrosaSoft.
What are .afp files used for?
FileProtector allows for the permanent protection of the contents of any file using one of three encryption algorithms:
- AES (256-bit / 192-bit / 128-bit),
- TripleDES (192-bit),
- DES (64-bit).
The algorithms use a password-derived encryption key to encrypt and decrypt the protected data. Securing sensitive files with FileProtector - which converts them into .afp encrypted containers - is a reasonably safe solution, provided that a sufficiently strong password and a strong algorithm such as AES-256 are chosen. DES (64-bit effective key length) is considered cryptographically weak by modern standards and is best avoided.
Once encrypted, the original file data is unrecoverable without both the correct password and the FileProtector application itself. Unlike open formats such as .gpg files, .afp has no documented third-party decoder and no publicly documented file signature - the format is recognized by its extension and by FileProtector itself.
Security & safety
RISK: MEDIUMThe .afp file itself is passive encrypted data and won't execute. The real risks are around recovery and scams: there is no legitimate third-party "AFP decryptor", so sites or tools promising to crack/open a FileProtector .afp without the password are almost certainly scams or malware - avoid them. If you lost the password, the data is effectively gone. Only obtain FileProtector from a verified official source, and be cautious that an .afp from an untrusted sender, once decrypted, could contain anything.
Format details
in a nutshell- IBM Advanced Function Presentation (AFP/AFPDS) - An IBM print-stream/document format for high-volume printing (statements, invoices); opened with AFP viewers like IBM AFP Workbench - a completely different .afp.
- Apple Filing Protocol resource - .afp can appear in contexts related to Apple's (now deprecated) network file-sharing protocol; it is a protocol, not a document format.
Programs that open AFP files
Windows1 app
AndrosaSoft FileProtector
Paid Open the .afp in the same FileProtector application that created it and enter the password to decrypt back to the original file. Technical details
deep spec| Developer | AndrosaSoft |
| Encryption type | Password-based symmetric encryption |
| Supported algorithms | AES (128-bit, 192-bit, 256-bit), TripleDES (192-bit), DES (64-bit) |
| Platform | Windows only |
| Container scope | Single-file wrapper - one source file per .afp container |
| MIME type | application/octet-stream |
| File encoding | Binary (opaque encrypted ciphertext) |
| File signature | No stable published magic bytes; the proprietary format is identified by its .afp extension |
| Payload compression | Uncompressed - encrypted ciphertext resists further compression |
| File size overhead | Source file size plus a small header storing salt and encryption parameters |
| Internal structure | Small header (salt, algorithm parameters) followed by the encrypted payload block |
| Password recovery | Not possible - encrypted payload is permanently inaccessible without the correct password |
| Third-party support | Proprietary format; no documented third-party decoder or converter exists |
| Key derivation | Password-derived symmetric key (specific key derivation function undocumented) |
| Related encrypted formats | .enc, .aes, .crypt, .gpg |
| Released | AndrosaSoft FileProtector (Windows encryption utility, 2000s) |
AFP conversions
Community Q&A
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