What is a .vce file?

A .vce file is a practice-exam container used by Avanset's VCE Exam Simulator. If someone sent you one, you have probably found that nothing on your computer will open it.

What is inside one

One .vce file holds a complete practice exam: the question prompts, the answer options, which options are correct, the explanations attached to each question, and the exhibit images that questions refer to. It is a single self-contained file rather than a folder of assets.

Why a text editor shows only noise

The container is a Delphi record stream, and the text inside it is not stored as plain characters — individual strings and sub-streams are enciphered, each one restarting the cipher from scratch. So the file is structured data wrapped around obfuscated text, which is why opening it in an editor or an archive tool shows binary noise, and why renaming the extension changes nothing.

There is more than one numbered version of the format. Files look identical from the outside and differ internally, so a tool that opens one file can fail on the next.

How to open one

FreeVCE opens .vce files in a browser tab. There is nothing to install and no account to create. Exams, answers and progress are stored in the browser's own database on your device, and once the page has loaded once it works with no network at all. It contains no exam content — you open files you already have.

Open a .vce file
What leaves your device: exam files you import are uploaded to the project's collection, which is how support for more format versions gets added. That is stated on the import screen before you import anything. Your answers, scores and progress stay in your browser and are never sent anywhere.

Can a .vce file contain a virus?

The format holds questions, answers, explanations and images. It is data read by a program, not a program itself, and FreeVCE reads it inside the browser's sandbox like any other file you might open on a web page.