What is a VSD file?
Visio Drawing File
- Developed By
- Microsoft
- Initial Release
- 1992
- MIME Type
- application/vnd.visio
The VSD format is the proprietary binary file format used by Microsoft Visio for storing vector graphics diagrams prior to the release of Visio 2013. It is based on the Microsoft Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) Compound File structure, organizing data into streams and storages to contain shape definitions, connectors, metadata, and VBA macros. As a closed, legacy standard, VSD lacks the human-readable transparency of the newer XML-based VSDX format, making programmatic access difficult without specific Microsoft APIs.
How to open a VSD file
Microsoft Visio remains the primary software for opening and editing VSD files. However, newer versions of Visio automatically prompt to upgrade these files to VSDX. Users without Visio can utilize the free Microsoft Visio Viewer to view the diagrams in a web browser. Third-party diagramming tools such as Lucidchart, LibreOffice Draw, and CorelDRAW also possess import filters to read and convert legacy VSD binaries.