Bak file

In computing, ".bak" is a filename extension commonly used to signify a backup copy of a file.

When a program is about to overwrite an existing file (for example, when the user saves the document they are working on), the program may first make a copy of the existing file, with .bak appended to the filename. This common .bak naming scheme makes it possible to retrieve the original contents of the file. In a similar manner, a user may also manually make a copy of the file before the change and append .bak to the filename.

Other naming schemes are also in widespread use: file~, file.orig, and file.old.

Database Applications like FoxPro and SQL Server use .bak files to back up their databases and other applications, like XML shell, create .bak files in their autosave process.[1] They do not get automatically deleted, so they need to be manually deleted after the process using it is stopped.