.PDB file signature
A Windows Program Database file begins with the bytes 4D 69 63 72 6F 73 6F 66 74 20 43 2F 43 2B 2B 20 4D 53 46 20 37 2E 30 30 (Microsoft C/C++ MSF 7.00 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 PDB file is still recognisable.
Signature
| Offset | Hex | ASCII |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 4D 69 63 72 6F 73 6F 66 74 20 43 2F 43 2B 2B 20 4D 53 46 20 37 2E 30 30Native PDB. Portable PDB (.NET) begins BSJB. | Microsoft C/C++ MSF 7.00 |
MIME type: application/octet-stream · usual extensions: .pdb
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.pdb
file file.pdbWindows (PowerShell):
Format-Hex -Path file.pdb -Count 32If the bytes do not match
A file named .pdb whose first bytes are something else is not a PDB 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 PDB guide explains what a genuine file should contain.