.ACE file signature
A ACE archive file begins with the bytes 2A 2A 41 43 45 2A 2A (**ACE** in ASCII) at offset 7 (0x7). The signature is the same whatever the file is named, which is why a renamed or extensionless ACE file is still recognisable.
Signature
| Offset | Hex | ASCII |
|---|---|---|
| 7 | 2A 2A 41 43 45 2A 2A | **ACE** |
MIME type: application/x-ace-compressed · usual extensions: .ace
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.ace
file file.aceWindows (PowerShell):
Format-Hex -Path file.ace -Count 32This signature sits at offset 7, so look there rather than at the first bytes: xxd -s 7 -l 16 file.ace.
If the bytes do not match
A file named .ace whose first bytes are something else is not a ACE 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 ACE guide explains what a genuine file should contain.