PEM files are Base64-encoded certificates and are used to verify the identity of a website and establish a secured connection with it. PEM certificates are automatically generated documents and are not meant to opened or edited manually. In fact that would constitute tampering. However, they may be required to be uploaded by the user to authenticate their identity.
Open PEM File on Windows OS
- Look for an PEM file you need to open in Windows Explorer and double-click on it
- If the file doesn’t open automatically and you see a “Windows can’t open a file” message then you should search for a program which can open PEM file
- If you have a program which can open PEM file installed on your computer then launch that program and select “File” and then “Open” or similar options from its menu to open the PEM file
- If you don’t have the program installed then you need to try searching for “PEM wiki”, “how to open PEM file” in the search engine.
- Once you find the application, install it on your computer
- After the program is installed double-click on the PEM file to open it
File extensions are used by Windows operating system to specify what kind of information is stored in the file. Every file in Windows OS needs to have file extension and file extensions are used by Windows to determine which application it should use to open the file. Every application installed on Windows OS places information about which extensions it could open into the Windows registry and Windows uses this information to determine which application it should launch when user double-clicks on the file. If application which can open PEM file is not installed, then Windows will show ‘Windows can’t open PEM file’ message and buttons to either select an application on the computer which can open the file or to search the web for the application which can open PEM file.