What is a TST file?
A .TST file is a data container used primarily to store test data, educational quizzes, or engineering measurement sequences. Because many different software applications use the .TST file extension, the internal format of these files varies significantly. In education, a .TST file is often a test or quiz file created by software such as ExamView, Respondus LockDown Browser, or Schoolhouse Technologies. In engineering and IT, a .TST file can store cable analyzer test results from Fluke Networks, automated test sequences from NI TestStand, or geotechnical soil test data. Another distinct use is the TestPoint Test File format, which is utilized by data acquisition software from Measurement Computing. Finally, IT administrators may encounter .TST files functioning as RFC 3161 Timestamp Tokens for secure digital timestamping.
How to open TST files?
Opening a .TST file natively requires the exact software that created it. An educational exam file will only open in its respective application, while an engineering file requires diagnostic software. However, some .TST files are formatted as standard text files (using UTF-8 or UTF-16 encoding) or compressed as standard .ZIP archives. You can often inspect these specific variants using a basic text editor or an archive extraction utility.
Best practices and troubleshooting
The main problem users face with .TST files is identifying the correct application. Do not rename the file extension to force it to open, as this breaks the file association. If a .TST file fails to open, it is highly likely that you are using the wrong application for that specific data type.
Software and tools
Depending on the exact file format, you may need specific tools like Respondus LockDown Browser, NI TestStand, or specialized hardware utilities from Fluke Networks. For manual inspection, you can use text editors like Notepad++ or archive tools like 7-Zip to extract compressed versions.
Summary
viewer.online/tst can analyze .TST files to identify the exact format and creator software, inspect the file structure, extract readable text, and check whether an online preview is available. Because the .TST extension has multiple possible meanings, we recommend using viewer.online/tst to identify the actual format of your file. This makes viewer.online/tst highly useful for identifying, inspecting, and understanding .TST files without installing unknown software or dealing with compatibility problems.