What Are FDX & FDR Files?

These are most likely Final Draft scripts, but there are other formats that use these same file extensions

By
Tim Fisher
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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 SVP and General Manager of Lifewire.
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Updated on May 15, 2023

What to Know

  • FDX and FDR files are documents used in the Final Draft screenwriting software.
  • An FDR file might instead be a Windows error report.
  • Some FDX files are food exchange data files.

This article explains what an FDX or FDR file is and how to open or convert one on your computer or mobile device.

What Are FDX & FDR Files?

A file with the FDX or FDR file extension is a document used by the screenwriting software Final Draft to store scripts for TV episodes, movies, and plays.

FDR is the file extension used in Final Draft versions 5, 6, and 7. Documents in newer versions of the software are saved as FDX files.

FDX files in Windows 10

While most FDR files you'll come across will be Final Draft documents, some are embroidery designs, Windows error reports, or SideKick 2 notes. Flight Data Recorder files may also use the FDR file extension.

Food exchange data files use the FDX file extension, too. These are used by various cookbook software programs for storing recipe details.

How to Open FDX & FDR Files

FDX and FDR files can be opened and edited with Final Draft in both Windows and Mac. The software isn't free to download, but there is a 30-day trial option you can get.

Even though Final Draft 8 and newer save movie scripts in the FDX format, the newer software still supports the FDR format as well.

The Final Draft Go iOS app should be able to open FDX files.

Melco's DesignShop should be able to open FDR files that hold embroidery designs.

Windows error report files that use the FDR file extension are generated from the Windows operating system or from programs like Windows Live Messenger. These files are meant to be opened by the operating system, but you might also be able to view one manually with a text editor.

We're unaware of any software that can open a SideKick 2 note, but since it's likely some type of text-based file, a simple text editor can surely display most if not all of the file. If you have the program associated with this file already installed on your computer, you can probably use some type of File > Open menu to open it within that program.

Flight Data Recorder files may be able to open with Vector Flight Controller or eLogger.

To open food exchange data files on Windows, you might have luck with Radium Technologies' Living Cookbook. Paprika Recipe Manager might open the file on macOS, iOS, and Android; you can download it from your device's app store.

Use a text editor to open the file if the information from above isn't helpful. Final Draft FDX/FDR files aren't plain text files, but another file format might be. If so, a text editor will properly display the file's contents. If it's not 100% readable, there may be some text within the file that can help identify what software is used to create and open it.

How to Convert FDX & FDR Files

Final Draft 8 and newer (both the full versions and the trials) automatically convert an FDR file to the newer FDX format when it's opened. Final Draft supports saving both types of files to PDF, too, but only in the full, non-trial version.

The Final Draft trial only supports opening/converting the first 15 pages of the document. If you have an FDR file that's longer than that but need to convert it to FDX, try this solution explained by screenwriter John August.

If SideKick 2 notes can be converted to any other format, it's likely done through an Export or Save as menu within the program that opens it. However, since we don't know what software is used with this type of file, try opening it with a text editor and then saving it under a new text format like HTML or TXT.

There's no reason, and probably not even a method, to convert an error report that's used with the Windows OS.

Still Can't Open the File?

If your file doesn't open at this point, then you're probably misreading the file extension. This is pretty easy to do if the file has common letters in its file extension, like is the case with these two.

Some examples of file extensions you could confuse for one of these include FXB and EFX.

Another is FPX. While it does look similar, it's really a picture saved in the FlashPix bitmap image file format. You can't open one with the programs linked above.

FRD looks like these extensions, too, but it's used for frequency response data files.

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