Files where the information is stored in the binary code of 1's and 0's that make up the basic language of computing. These files usually require some application to present the data in a form that we can understand. File transfer of binary files require a different protocol from that for text files.
A file not in "human readable" ASCII file format. Executable programs, graphic image files, audio & video files, and compressed files are all examples of binary files.
Binary files are files that include up to 256 different characters and are encoded by 8 binary digits (bits) for each character. Simple text or ASCII files only use 128 different characters and can be encoded by 7 binary digits. Examples of binary files are most programs, most word- processed files, most graphics files, and most sound files. If you don't know a file is ASCII, it is probably a binary file.
Electronic files with formatting information that is software dependent.
Files stored in a computer hard drive that contain seemingly random bytes of data, not easily intelligible by a human reader; the file looks like "gibberish". The contents of binary files can usually only be understood by the program that created them, or by other compatible software packages. The advantage of binary files is that, for programs that can understand their contents, they are more efficient in terms of space and/or access speed.