.blend

What is a .blend file?

Blend is Blender's native project file — containing the complete 3D scene with models, materials, animations, and render settings.

Safe format
Type Cad
By Blender Foundation
MIME application/x-blender

Drop any file to identify it

No upload. No signup. No sending your file halfway across the internet.
We tell you what it is, right here in your browser.

What is it

You received a .blend file, which means someone wants you to have the entire project — not just the model. Blender's native format saves everything: 3D meshes, materials, textures, lighting, cameras, animation keyframes, physics simulations, compositor nodes, and render settings. It's a complete project state in one file.

Blender is free, open-source, and has gone from underdog to industry competitor. Blender files are used in game development, architectural visualisation, product rendering, motion graphics, and an increasing number of Hollywood VFX pipelines. The format is tightly coupled to Blender's internals, which means other software can't open .blend files natively — you need Blender itself.

Blender (free, blender.org) opens .blend files — it's the only option, but fortunately it's an excellent one that runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux. To share 3D assets with people who don't use Blender, export to glTF/GLB (web/game), FBX (game engines), OBJ (simple geometry), or STL (3D printing). Blender's export pipeline handles all of these.

Technical details
Full Name
Blender Project
MIME Type
application/x-blender
Developer
Blender Foundation
Magic Bytes
42 4C 45 4E 44 45 52
Safety
.blend is a known, safe format.
What opens it
Blender
FREE All
FAQ
How do I open a .blend file without Blender?
You can't — .blend is Blender's proprietary project format. The good news is Blender is completely free and runs on every platform. Download it from blender.org and open the file directly.
Can I convert a .blend file to STL for 3D printing?
Yes. Open the file in Blender, select the objects you want to print, then File → Export → STL. Make sure to apply all modifiers and check the scale before exporting.
Related formats