Small Web Format family

Writable

other

file format family; used for multimedia, vector graphics and ActionScript

Identify it

Extensions	`.swf`
MIME types	`application/futuresplashapplication/vnd.adobe.flash-movieapplication/x-shockwave-flash`
Signatures	`465753` at byte 0
Wikidata	`Q594447`
Library of Congress	`fdd000629`

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CrossBridgeOpen sourcewrites · MIT License
FFmpegOpen sourcereads and writes · LGPL-2.1-or-later / GPL-2.0-or-later
Integrated Genome BrowserOpen sourcewrites · Common Public License
SWFToolsOpen sourcereads and writes · GNU General Public License, version 2.0
ExifToolOpen sourcereads · Artistic License / GNU General Public License, version 1.0 or later
PhotoRecOpen sourcereads · GNU General Public License
RuffleOpen sourcereads · Apache Software License 2.0 / MIT License
ShumwayOpen sourcereads · Apache License / SIL Open Font License
Adobe Animatewrites · shareware
Adobe Captivatereads and writes
Adobe Fireworks CS6writes
Anime Studio 5writes
ENVIreads and writes · proprietary license
Fireworks MX 2004writes
Freehand MXreads and writes
Kid Pix Deluxe 4 Home Editionwrites
MotionArtist 3writes
MotionArtist 4writes
Movavi Video Editorreads and writes · proprietary license
Pinnacle Studio 17 Ultimatereads and writes
Poser 5writes
Q207902reads and writes · proprietary license
Snagit 8writes
Adobe After Effectsreads · proprietary license
Adobe Flashreads · proprietary license
Adobe Flash Builderreads
Adobe Flash Playerreads · freeware
Adobe Flex Builder 3reads
CorelDRAW Graphics Suitereads
Freemake Video Converterreads · freeware
Gnashreads
Google Swiffyreads
InstrumenPochereads
IrfanViewreads · freeware
LiVESreads
Microsoft PowerPoint 2011reads
Microsoft PowerPoint 2013reads
Microsoft PowerPoint 2016reads
PuriFilereads
VideoStudio Pro X5reads

And 3 more in the JSON record.

To	With	Fidelity	Command and losses
FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) 1.2.1	FFmpeg	Partial	`ffmpeg -i in.swf out.flac` Audio track only: the video is dropped.
Waveform Audio	FFmpeg	Partial	`ffmpeg -i in.swf out.wav` Audio track only: the video is dropped.
Matroska 1-4	FFmpeg	Lossy	`ffmpeg -i in.swf out.mkv` Re-encoded with lossy codecs by default; try `-c copy` to remux without re-encoding when the codecs fit the container.
MPEG 1/2 Audio Layer 3	FFmpeg	Lossy	`ffmpeg -i in.swf out.mp3` Lossy re-encoding.
MPEG-4 Part 14	FFmpeg	Lossy	`ffmpeg -i in.swf out.mp4` Re-encoded with lossy codecs by default; try `-c copy` to remux without re-encoding when the codecs fit the container.
Ogg	FFmpeg	Lossy	`ffmpeg -i in.swf out.ogg` Lossy re-encoding.
WebM	FFmpeg	Lossy	`ffmpeg -i in.swf out.webm` Re-encoded with lossy codecs by default; try `-c copy` to remux without re-encoding when the codecs fit the container.

From Converters (FFmpeg, ImageMagick, Pandoc, LibreOffice), Kaitai Struct format gallery, Wikidata. Updated 2026-10-24.