MDA File What It Is How to Open One
MDA File (What It Is & How to Open One) GA S REGULAR Menu Lifewire Tech for Humans Newsletter! Search Close GO Software & Apps > File Types
In a reverse problem of sorts, you may have more than one program installed that opens MDA files. If that's true, and the one that opens them by default (when you double-click on one) isn't the one you want to open them, that's easy to change. Here's how to change file associations in Windows.
What Is an MDA File?
How to open, edit, and convert MDA files
By Tim Fisher Tim Fisher Senior Vice President & Group General Manager, Tech & Sustainability Emporia State University Tim Fisher has more than 30 years' of professional technology experience. He's been writing about tech for more than two decades and serves as the VP and General Manager of Lifewire. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on January 10, 2022 Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email File Types File Types Apps Windows MS Office Linux Google Drive Backup & Utilities Design CryptocurrencyWhat to Know
Most MDA files are Access Add-in files.Open one with Access.Several other formats use this same file extension. This article describes the several formats that use the MDA file extension, including how to open each kind and what your options are for file conversions.What Is an MDA File
A file with the MDA file extension is a Microsoft Access Add-in file used for adding queries and other functionality to MS Access. Some early versions of the software used MDA files as workspace files. ACCDA replaces the MDA format in the newest versions of Access. Microsoft Access MDA files. Some files that use this extension are instead associated with Yamaha's Clavinova piano or Creative Technology's MicroDesign software as an Area format file. Still, others may be unrelated and saved as Meridian Data Slingshot files, Rays Media Data files, used with software tools called EPICS, or related to the PIPES music creator.How to Open an MDA File
The vast majority of MDA files you'll encounter will be Access Add-in files, meaning they can be opened with Microsoft Access. Access uses other formats that are similar in name to MDA, like MDB, MDE, MDT, and MDW. All of those formats will open in Access as well, but if your specific file doesn't, be sure you're not misreading the extension. It might just look like an MDA file but really be an MDC, MDS, or MDX file. If your file is definitely using the MDA file extension, but it doesn't open with Microsoft's program, it might be a type of audio file that pertains to Yamaha's Clavinova piano. YAM player should be able to open it. For MicroDesign Area files, all we have is a link to the Creative Technology website, but we don't know where (or if) you can download the MicroDesign software. It seems that this format might be a type of image, which means it's possible you could rename it to JPG or PNG and open it with any image viewer. We also don't have much useful information on Meridian Data Slingshot files, except that they were originally used by Meridian Data's Slingshot software. The company has changed hands a lot over the years but was most recently acquired by Microchip Technology. We have no information on Rays Media Data files. EPICS stands for Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System, and its related software uses MDA files, too. See MDA Files — PIPES to learn more about that audio format. Given that there are a few different possible formats that use the .MDA file extension, you might have luck opening the file with a text editor or the HxD program. These applications open any file as if it were a text document, so if opening the file shows some sort of identifiable information (like some header text at the top of the file), it may point you in the direction of the program that was used to create it.In a reverse problem of sorts, you may have more than one program installed that opens MDA files. If that's true, and the one that opens them by default (when you double-click on one) isn't the one you want to open them, that's easy to change. Here's how to change file associations in Windows.