How to Open a Cellebrite File From the DA

A phone dump lands in your discovery as something like an .exe reader, a .ufdr file, or a folder full of pieces, and double-clicking gets you nowhere. Here's what you're holding and how to actually read it.

What the DA actually sent you

Cellebrite is the tool most agencies use to extract phones. Productions usually arrive one of three ways: a Reader package (a folder with UFDReader.exe and a data file), a single .ufdr file meant to be opened IN that reader, or a full extraction folder meant for lab software you don't own.

The reader .exe is Windows-only, often flagged by antivirus, and sometimes just refuses to run on modern machines. None of that means the production is bad. It means the DA exported it for a computer that isn't yours.

Try this first

If you got a folder, look for UFDReader.exe and open it, then use File and Open to load the .ufdr from the same folder. Run it on a Windows PC, not a Mac. If antivirus quarantines it, that's common with these readers; restore it and allow it if your IT comfort allows.

If you got only a .ufdr with no reader, ask the DA's office for the Reader package export. They can produce it in minutes.

When nothing opens

A .ufdr file is really a container of the phone's messages, calls, contacts, photos, and app data. It can be converted into things you can actually use: a spreadsheet of every message and call, chat threads as readable documents, and a browsable gallery that opens on any computer you already own.

That's exactly what our file conversion service does. We hash the original at intake, never modify it, and hand back files that open on any computer, with the hashes documented so everything traces back to what the DA gave you.