Nifty Hex Editor
Edit binary files: overwrite, insert and delete bytes with undo, a data inspector, hex and text search, go to offset, and a structure view for PNG, ZIP, WAV, ELF and PE files.
Maintained. No sign-in. No telemetry. Works in VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, VSCodium and other editors that use Open VSX.
Features



- Any file, as bytes. Open any file with Open With… → Nifty Hex Editor, the Explorer's right-click menu or Nifty Hex Editor: Open in Hex Editor. Offsets, hex and ASCII side by side, with zero bytes dimmed so structure stands out. Large files scroll smoothly because only the visible rows are drawn.
- Real editing. Type hex digits to overwrite bytes, or switch to the ASCII column (Tab) and type text. Press Insert to add bytes instead of overwriting, and Delete or Backspace to remove them. Undo, redo, save, save as, revert and hot exit all work as in any other editor.
- Data inspector. The bytes at the cursor decoded as int8 to int64 (signed and unsigned, little- or big-endian), float32/float64, UTF-8, binary and Unix timestamps.
- Find and jump. Search for hex with wildcards (
89 50 4E 47, DE AD ?? EF) or for text, step through matches, and Go to Offset (Ctrl+G) in decimal or 0x hex.
- Structure view. For PNG, ZIP, WAV and other RIFF files, GIF, BMP, ELF and Windows PE executables, see the file's structure, such as chunks, headers, entries and sizes. Click any field to select its bytes.
- Copy a selection as hex (
Ctrl+C in the hex column) or text (in the ASCII column).
- Works in the browser on vscode.dev and github.dev.
Keys
| Key |
What it does |
| Arrow keys, Page Up/Down, Home/End |
Move (add Shift to select) |
0–9, A–F |
Overwrite (or insert) a byte, one nibble at a time |
Tab |
Switch between the hex and ASCII columns |
Insert |
Toggle insert mode |
Delete / Backspace |
Remove bytes |
Ctrl+G / Ctrl+F |
Go to offset / find |
Settings
| Setting |
Default |
What it does |
nifty.hex.maxSizeMB |
256 |
Largest file to open (files are loaded into memory) |
nifty.hex.bytesPerRow |
16 |
8, 16 or 32 bytes per row |
Install
- VS Code: search for "Nifty Hex Editor" in the Extensions view, or install from the Visual Studio Marketplace.
- Cursor, Windsurf, VSCodium, Kiro, Antigravity: install from Open VSX.
Privacy
This extension collects no telemetry and needs no account.
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