Properties of PCV Files and How to Open a File with .pcv Extension

PCV files exist as 2 different types. Please find information about each of them below.

Type 1: MozBackup Profile Backup

General Information

Title	PCV File Extension
Extension	.pcv
Full Form	MozBackup Profile Backup
File Type	Backup File
Developer	Pavel Cvrcek
MIME Type	application/octet-stream

File Function

Primary Function	Store backups
Additional Functions	Restore profiles
Features	Comprehensive, Profile-specific

File Characteristics

Quality	High fidelity
Supports Layers	N/A
Supports Transparency	N/A
Editable	No

Use Cases

Email Client Backup	Yes
Browser Profile Backup	Yes
User Data Migration	Yes

Security and Practices

Security Risks	Data exposure
Best Practices	Encrypted storage, Secure transfer

Historical/Version Information

Initial Release	Unknown
Discontinued	Yes

Associated Types

Related Files

.jsonlz4, .sqlite, .xpi

Software Compatibility

Software	Usage Policy	OS Compatibility
MozBackup	Free	Windows

Type 2: Picocrypt Encrypted File

A PCV file is encrypted by Picocrypt. Picocrypt appends the .pcv extension to encrypted files. You can decrypt a PCV file if you know the password. Picocrypt is used to secure files. To encrypt, users drag and drop files into Picocrypt, enter a password, and select Encrypt. Picocrypt then encrypts using XChaCha20 encryption.
Picocrypt is a small encryption tool. It can encrypt files up to 256 GB. Its shredder overwrites files in four turns.
Many users face problems opening PCV files. Here are tips on opening PCV files and programs that support them. The PCV extension is used for MozBackup profile backups.
I want to decrypt a random.bin file renamed by Picocrypt without renaming it first.
Encrypted files are renamed and get the PCV extension. To decrypt, run Picocrypt, drag in the files, enter the password, and click “Start”.
I will add file extension associations in the next versions to properly associate extensions.
Picocrypt uses strong encryption but large files can take longer. For large files look for AES-based tools as newer CPUs have AES instruction sets.
I created the simple, tiny and secure encryption tool Picocrypt. It runs on Windows, Linux and MacOS. The Windows executable is 3MB with no dependencies. Picocrypt uses strong encryption and key derivation algorithms. It’s free, open-source and actively maintained.
PCV files store backup copies of Mozilla software. The data can be manually restored after decompressing. But it’s best to use MozBackup to manage PCV files.
The pcv extension is used by the backup tool MozBackup for Firefox and related browsers. The pcv file contains backup data like bookmarks and settings. Use MozBackup to open and restore pcv files.
PCV files belong to Mozilla Thunderbird. They are archives of backup data created by MozBackup. The backups contain emails, messages, contacts, bookmarks, etc. Move Me software also uses pcv files to migrate data between Windows devices.