BAM to SAM Converter | Free Online Bioinformatics Tool

Home » BAM to SAM Converter | Free Online Bioinformatics Tool
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Drag & Drop your BAM file here

or click to browse

About BAM to SAM Converter

The BAM to SAM Converter is a powerful, client-side utility designed for bioinformaticians, researchers, and students. It allows you to transform Binary Alignment/Map (BAM) files into human-readable Sequence Alignment/Map (SAM) format directly in your web browser.

Unlike other tools that require command-line knowledge (like samtools) or server-side uploads, this tool leverages modern web technologies (Streams API, WebAssembly concepts) to process data locally. This ensures maximum privacy and speed, as your sensitive genomic data never leaves your computer.

Key Features

  • Zero Uploads: All processing is local. Secure by design.
  • Instant Preview: View the header and first alignments immediately.
  • Header Extraction: Quickly grab just the header for inspection.
  • JSON Export: Unique feature to export alignments as JSON for web analysis.
  • Responsive Design: Works on desktop, tablet, and mobile.

How to Use

  1. Select File: Drag and drop your `.bam` file into the upload area or click to browse.
  2. Choose Action:
    • Click Convert to SAM for a full conversion.
    • Click Extract Header Only if you just need the metadata.
  3. View & Download: The tool will display a preview of the output. Click "Download Full .sam" to save the complete file to your device.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between BAM and SAM? +
SAM (Sequence Alignment/Map) is a text-based format for storing biological sequences aligned to a reference sequence. BAM is the compressed binary version of SAM. BAM is smaller and faster for computers to read, while SAM is human-readable.
Why is the conversion taking time? +
BAM files can be gigabytes in size. While this tool is optimized, decompressing and formatting millions of records in a browser takes some processing power. For files larger than 2GB, we recommend using the command-line `samtools` if browser performance is limited.
Is my data secure? +
Absolutely. This tool runs entirely in your browser (client-side). No files are ever sent to a server. You can even use this tool while offline!

 

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