How to Open Boardview Files: Formats and Tools

Updated November 8, 2026

A boardview file is a simplified map of a printed circuit board. It stores the outline of every component, the position of every pin and test point, and the net each pin belongs to. It is not the original PCB design: there are no copper traces, no inner layers and usually no part values. What it gives you at the bench is quick answers to physical questions: where is PU301, which side is it on, and which other pins share its net.

Paired with the schematic, it turns “check R1234” into “R1234 is the 0402 resistor below the charger IC on the bottom side”. AwesomeHeader does not host files; catalog pages under boardviews link to the public posts where each file was published. This guide covers what to do once you have the file.

What a boardview shows

Component outlines and reference designators (PU101, PQ23, R1234, C567).
Pin positions, each tagged with a net name.
Top and bottom sides. The bottom is normally drawn mirrored, as if you flipped the board over.
Test points, and in some formats the probe positions used by in-circuit testers.
Occasionally part values or reference readings. Treat these as hints, not data.

The logic of the circuit (which regulator feeds which rail, what enables what) is in the schematic. See how to read laptop schematics.

Formats and the tools that open them

Boardview formats come from different ODMs, test-equipment vendors and viewer programs. The extension alone does not always tell you the format, because some extensions are shared by unrelated formats.

Extension	Typical origin	OpenBoardView	FlexBV
.brd	Test_Link-style text and encoded variants	Yes, common variants	Yes
.bdv	Honhan BoardViewer	Yes	Yes
.bvr	BVR format, several versions	Yes	Yes
.fz	ASUS, usually encrypted	Yes, with a key you supply	Yes
.cad	Several unrelated formats (GenCAD, Samsung and others)	Some variants	More variants
.asc	ASUS-style multi-file text sets; also other ASCII exports	ASUS-style sets	Several
.tvw	Tebo-ICT (TeboView)	No	Yes

Support changes between releases. If a file does not open, check the release notes of the version you are running before assuming the file is broken.

OpenBoardView

OpenBoardView is free and open source, with builds for Windows, Linux and macOS. It is light enough for an old bench PC and covers most laptop boardviews you will meet. The core workflow:

Open the file (File → Open, or drag it onto the window).
Search for a part by reference designator or for a net by name.
Click a pin to highlight every other pin on the same net.
Flip between top and bottom, and rotate or mirror the view to match the board in front of you.

Recent versions added GenCAD and XZZ PCB support, so it is worth keeping it up to date.

FlexBV

FlexBV is a commercial viewer with a watermarked, feature-limited free edition. It reads a wider range of formats than OpenBoardView, including .tvw and many full CAD formats, and runs on Windows, macOS and Linux. The licensed edition can couple a schematic PDF to the board, so clicking a part or pin jumps to it in the schematic, which saves a lot of window switching. If you open many .tvw or unusual .cad files, it is the practical choice.

Other viewers

Older Windows programs, such as the original BoardViewer for .bdv and TeboView for .tvw, still open their own formats but offer nothing over the two tools above. Subscription repair platforms ship their own viewers and databases and do not open arbitrary files.

When .brd is not a boardview

Cadence Allegro and Eagle also use .brd for full PCB design files. An Allegro .brd is a binary design database, often tens of megabytes, and boardview-only viewers may refuse it. FlexBV lists Allegro support, and Cadence offers its own free viewer for Allegro files. If OpenBoardView reports an unknown format on a large .brd, this is the first thing to suspect.

.fz files and the decryption key

ASUS .fz boardviews are compressed and, in most cases, encrypted. OpenBoardView can decode them, but the project does not ship the decryption key. You enter the key in OpenBoardView’s configuration yourself; without a valid key it shows a key error instead of a board. A small number of .fz files are only compressed, not encrypted, and open without a key.

FlexBV lists ASUS .fz among its supported formats, so it is the alternative if you do not want to deal with keys.

Do not download “unlockers”, patched executables or “fixed” viewers from file-sharing posts to get around this. The key is plain configuration data; a viewer that needs a patched binary is a malware risk on a PC that may also hold customer data.

Before you start: archives and safety

Boardviews are almost always distributed inside archives. A few habits prevent most problems:

Scan downloads with your antivirus. A boardview is never an .exe, .scr, .bat, .js or .lnk file. If an archive contains one where you expected a .brd, delete the archive.
Do not open the file from inside the archive preview. Some viewers cannot read from temporary locations, and annotations will not be saved.

Extracting .rar, .zip and .7z

Download every part of the post. Multi-part archives look like name.part1.rar, name.part2.rar or name.7z.001, name.7z.002.
Put all parts in one folder.
Extract with 7-Zip on Windows (7-zip.org), Keka or The Unarchiver on macOS, or 7z x from p7zip on Linux. For multi-part sets, extract from the first part only.
Extract to a short path with plain ASCII folder names, for example C:\bv\LA-xxxxP\. Some older viewers fail on long paths or on Chinese or Cyrillic file names; rename the file if needed.
If extraction fails with a CRC or “unexpected end of archive” error, a part is incomplete. Download it again rather than forcing extraction.
If the archive asks for a password, the password is normally stated in the original post. If it is not, ask the uploader. Do not use password-cracking tools from unknown sources.

Multi-file formats

Some formats come as a set of files rather than one file. ASUS-style .asc boards, for example, are split into several .asc files (format, parts, pins, nails and so on). Keep the whole set together in one folder so the viewer can load them as a single board.

Matching the boardview to the schematic

A boardview for the wrong board is worse than none, because it points you at the wrong pads with confidence.

Get the board number from the PCB, not from the laptop label. One model can ship with several boards. See how to find a laptop board number.
Match the revision. Rev 1.0 and Rev 2.0 of the same board number can move parts, change footprints or rename reference designators. Most nets survive between revisions; positions and designators are less reliable.
Spot-check before trusting it. Pick three or four distinctive parts from the schematic, such as the charger IC, the EC, the DC-in connector and a large inductor. Search for them in the boardview and confirm that the pin count and the net names on the key pins match.
Compare net names loosely. Boardview net names are sometimes truncated or differ slightly from the schematic (for example a missing # or _N suffix). The same pin landing on the same signal is what matters.

Catalog pages under boards group schematics, boardviews and BIOS dumps by board number. You can also search a board number directly from search, and find matching PDFs under schematics.

If only another revision is available, verify every part you rely on against the real PCB before measuring or replacing anything.

Common pitfalls

Forgetting the mirror. The bottom side is shown mirrored by default. When pin 1 seems to be in the wrong corner, check the view orientation before doubting the file.
Renamed extensions. Some uploads carry the wrong extension. If one viewer rejects a file, try the other, or check the first bytes in a hex viewer: text-based formats are readable, encrypted ones are not.
Empty or scrambled board from an .fz file. That is a missing or wrong key, not a damaged file.
Using reference readings blindly. Diode-mode or resistance values from another technician’s board are a guide. Compare against a known-good board where possible.
Assuming the boardview reflects the BOM. It shows every footprint, including parts that are not populated on your variant. An empty pad is not automatically a missing part; check the schematic’s BOM options first.
Working only on the phone. Most viewers are desktop programs. A useful bench habit is to highlight the net on the PC, take a screenshot of the area and keep it on your phone next to the board.