How to Open a .sch File — Which Program Made It and What Opens It
Every Schematic Tool’s Favourite Extension
.sch is short for schematic, so nearly every schematic editor has used it at some point: KiCad up to version 5, Eagle, PADS Logic, Protel, OrCAD’s DOS-era SDT, DesignSpark PCB, Easy-PC, gEDA, Qucs, Xschem and Pulsonix. The formats have nothing in common — a .sch from one of them means nothing to the others.
The Quick Way
Drop the file on MakerSuite 3D. KiCad 4/5 schematics and Eagle schematics — XML and the older binary kind — open directly; for the others it tells you which program made the file and what to do — the same answers as the table below. Nothing is uploaded.
Drop your .sch file — the viewer tells you which program made it.
Try MakerSuite 3D FreeWhich .sch Is It?
Open the file in a text editor and look at the first line, or just drop it on the viewer. Binary files show mostly unreadable characters.
| File starts with | Made by | Opens here? | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
EESchema Schematic File Version 4 | KiCad 4 / 5 | ✓ Yes | Opens here. Drop the project’s -cache.lib (or its .lib files) together with it so the symbols are drawn. KiCad 6 and later convert it to .kicad_sch. |
<?xml … <eagle | Eagle 6 and later (XML) | ✓ Yes | Opens here directly. |
10 80 (binary) | Eagle 4 and 5 (binary) | ✓ Yes | Opens here: rebuilt as the XML Eagle 6 would have written, checked against the same designs saved again by Eagle 6. KiCad and Altium import only the XML form. |
Protel for Windows - Schematic Capture Binary File | Protel for Windows / Advanced Schematic (binary) | No | Altium Designer opens Protel schematics directly: save as .SchDoc and open that here. |
D0 CF 11 E0 (OLE2) | Compound-document (OLE2) schematic — Protel / Altium era or another tool | No | Try Altium Designer, which reads Protel and Altium schematics, and save as .SchDoc to open it here. If it came from another tool, export from that tool. |
D0 CF 11 E0 + “Schematic Design” | DesignSpark PCB / Easy-PC | No | Open it in DesignSpark PCB or Easy-PC. To see the board, export Gerber files and open the .zip here. |
| binary | PADS Logic (binary) | No | In PADS Logic use File > Export and save as ASCII (.txt). KiCad 10 and Altium import that file. |
| binary | OrCAD SDT (DOS era) | No | Altium imports it. Today’s OrCAD Capture saves .dsn, not .sch. |
v 20031011 1 | gEDA gschem / Lepton-EDA | No | KiCad 10 imports it (File > Import > Non-KiCad Schematic): save as .kicad_sch and open that here. |
<Qucs Schematic 25.2.0> | Qucs / Qucs-S | No | A circuit-simulation schematic, not a PCB design. Open it in Qucs-S. |
v {xschem version=…} | Xschem | No | A simulation and IC-design schematic, not a PCB design. Open it in Xschem. |
| binary | Pulsonix | No | A native binary format: open it in Pulsonix. |
Schematics That Are Not .sch
KiCad 6+ saves .kicad_sch and Altium .SchDoc — both open here. OrCAD Capture uses .dsn and LTspice .asc. And .schematic / .schem files are Minecraft builds, not circuits.
Telling Them Apart
The text formats name themselves on the first line: "EESchema Schematic File Version" is KiCad 4/5, "<?xml" followed by <eagle> is Eagle 6+, "v 20031011 1" (a date and a number) is gEDA, "<Qucs Schematic" is Qucs, and "v {xschem" is Xschem. Binary ones are harder: Eagle 5 starts with the bytes 10 80, compound files (Protel, DesignSpark) with D0 CF 11 E0.
A schematic is mostly symbols and wires, so the quickest way to a readable copy is often the original tool’s own export — ASCII for PADS Logic, XML for Eagle, .SchDoc through Altium for Protel.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why won't my .sch file open?
.sch has been used by almost every schematic editor, and their formats have nothing in common. Find out which program made the file (the table above, or drop it on the viewer) and use that program or its export.
Can KiCad open my .sch file?
KiCad 6 and later open KiCad 4/5 .sch files and import Eagle XML schematics; KiCad 10 also imports gEDA schematics and PADS Logic ASCII exports (File > Import > Non-KiCad Schematic). Binary Eagle, Protel and OrCAD SDT schematics are not among KiCad's importers.
Is a .schem or .schematic file a circuit?
No — those are Minecraft build files. Circuit schematics use .sch, .kicad_sch, .SchDoc, .dsn and similar.
Is my file uploaded anywhere?
No. MakerSuite 3D reads the file in your browser; it never leaves your machine.
Related Articles
Drop your .sch file and see which one it is — free.
Open MakerSuite 3D