Hex editor
computer program which can represent and edit data at the byte level
A hex (short for hexadecimal), binary, or byte editor is software that allows for editing data as binary data. It is particularly useful for editing non-human-readable data of a file, but can be used for any data. Generally, a hex editor is a standalone program, and its user experience is similar to that of a text editor. A user can see and edit the raw and exact contents of a file, as opposed to the interpretation of the content that other, higher level application software may associate with the file format. For example, this could be the data bytes that represent an image instead of a graphical representation.
Generally, data is grouped in 4 groups of 4 bytes or 2 groups of 8 bytes, followed by one group of 16 printable ASCII characters which correspond to each pair of hex values (each byte). Non-printable ASCII characters are typically represented by a dot (".") in the ASCII field.
A hex editor is sometimes used to fix data corruption problems. It can be useful to bypass application edit checks which may prevent correction of erroneous data. It has been used to "patch" executable programs (change or add a few instructions) as an alternative to recompilation.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Hex editor” as computer program which can represent and edit data at the byte level. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as computer program which can represent and edit data at the byte level. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q747948. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Hex editor” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.