How to open .EXR files (OpenEXR HDR images) on Android, Windows and Linux

EXR, TGA and PVR files come from the world of 3D, visual effects and games: a render from Blender, a texture from a game’s folder, an old Targa from a 3D package. They’re rarely meant to be looked at outside those programs, so when one turns up on its own there’s often nothing installed that can show it, and certainly not on a phone.

Folders decodes all three itself and shows them in its image viewer on Android, Windows and Linux, free. Here’s what each one is, what Folders can and can’t do with it, and where to go for the rest.

What is an .EXR file?

OpenEXR is a high-dynamic-range image format developed by Industrial Light & Magic, the visual effects company, and released as open source in the early 2000s. It’s now looked after by the Academy Software Foundation. Instead of the 8-bit values of a JPEG, which run from black to white in 256 steps, EXR stores floating-point numbers, usually 16-bit “half” or 32-bit floats. A pixel can be far brighter than white, so a render keeps the detail in a sunlit window or a lamp, and an artist can change the exposure afterwards without the highlights falling apart.

One EXR can also hold many channels and layers (the main image, depth, normals and other render passes), and newer versions add multiple parts and “deep” data. It’s the standard output of renderers in Blender, Houdini and Maya and the working format of compositing tools like Nuke; HDR environment maps used to light 3D scenes often come as EXR too.

Extension	What it is
.exr	OpenEXR: high-dynamic-range, floating-point images with optional layers, used in visual effects and 3D rendering
.tga	Truevision TGA (Targa): a simple picture format from the 1980s with optional transparency and light compression, still common for game textures and in 3D software
.pvr	PowerVR texture: a GPU texture container from Imagination Technologies, used for compressed textures in mobile games

TGA was created by Truevision for its Targa graphics cards. Unlike most formats it has no signature at the start of the file, only an optional “TRUEVISION-XFILE” footer in later versions, which is why programs sometimes fail to recognise it. PVR files can hold textures compressed in several GPU-specific ways (PVRTC, ETC, ASTC and others), often with mipmaps: the same texture stored again at smaller and smaller sizes.

How to open an .EXR file with Folders

Android

1. Install Folders from the download page and allow access to files.
2. Find the file, for example in Download, or search for *.exr, *.tga or *.pvr.
3. Tap it to open it in the image viewer. A large EXR takes a moment. From another app, use Open with → Folders.

Windows and Linux

1. Browse to the render or texture folder in Folders and double-click a file. The arrow keys step through a whole image sequence (frame_0001.exr, frame_0002.exr and so on).
2. On Windows the installer registers Folders for EXR, TGA and PVR, so right-click → Open with → Folders works in File Explorer.

What you can do with them in Folders

• View them with zoom, swipe or arrow keys through a folder, and use Details, Share and Open with another app.
• Check an EXR at a glance. A screen can’t show values brighter than white, so Folders turns the EXR into an ordinary picture for display. Very bright areas may look flat white, and you see the main image rather than every layer or render pass.
• Convert to ▸ on Windows and Linux: make a PNG or JPEG from an EXR or TGA for a quick preview to send round, or WebP, AVIF, HEIC, TIFF, BMP, GIF or ICO. An 8-bit copy keeps only what fits between black and white, so the high dynamic range is gone in the copy.
• Make TGA files. Select any pictures and choose Convert to ▸ TGA for a game or 3D program that wants one.
• PVR textures open in the viewer, but Convert to doesn’t take them.

Other ways to open .EXR, .TGA and .PVR files

• EXR: Blender (free) opens EXRs in its image editor, with layers and passes; tev is a small free HDR viewer with exposure control; GIMP and Krita open EXR for editing.
• TGA: GIMP, Krita, Paint.NET (Windows) and XnView MP open it, and most game engines import it directly.
• PVR: Imagination’s free PVRTexTool views and converts PVR textures.

Problems opening an .EXR file?

The EXR looks too dark, too bright or washed out. HDR values have to be squeezed to fit a normal screen, and every viewer does it differently. To judge exposure or look at a particular pass, use Blender or tev.

A PVR texture won’t show. PVR files can use many GPU compression schemes, and Folders can’t decode them all: textures compressed with ETC, DXT (BC) or ASTC may not open. PVRTexTool reads them and can save a PNG.

A TGA is upside down or has a black background. A flag in the file says whether rows run top-down or bottom-up, and transparency sits in an extra channel that some programs ignore. If one app shows it wrong, try another, or re-export it from the program that made it.

The file won’t open at all. EXRs using less common compression or deep data, and TGAs with unusual colour depths, aren’t supported everywhere. Blender, GIMP or XnView MP can usually read them and save a PNG.

Questions people ask

Can I open an EXR file on Android? Yes. Folders decodes EXR on the phone itself and shows it as a normal picture. For exposure control or render passes, you’ll need a desktop tool.

How do I convert EXR to PNG or JPG? On Windows or Linux, select the EXR in Folders and choose Convert to ▸ PNG or JPEG. The copy is 8-bit, so it won’t keep the high dynamic range; keep the EXR as your master.

What is a .tga file used for? Mostly textures, sprites and renders in games and 3D software, because it’s simple to read and supports transparency.

EXR vs HDR: what’s the difference? Both store high-dynamic-range images. Radiance .hdr files are an older, simpler format often used for environment maps; EXR offers more precision options, more channels and layers.

For the 3D models these textures belong to, see the GLB guide and the FBX guide, or browse all 382 file types Folders opens.