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Open a P7M file online, free: the signed PDF or Italian e-invoice inside, and who signed it

By Blink Brief · Updated  · How pages are made

A .p7m file is a document with a digital signature wrapped around it. Drop it into the box below to get the original file back, such as the PDF of a signed contract, and to see who signed it and when. An Italian e-invoice (.xml.p7m) is shown as a readable invoice in English that you can print or save as PDF. It's free, needs no sign-up, and the file isn't uploaded anywhere.

Open .p7m files

Drag .p7m files here

Invoices (.xml.p7m), signed PDFs (.pdf.p7m), other .p7m files, and .xml invoices. Several files at once, too.

What a .p7m file is

A .p7m file uses the Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS), the standard that grew out of PKCS #7. A signed one is an envelope with three things inside: the document, the signature, and usually the signer's certificate. In Italy the signature format is called CAdES, which is built on CMS.

The name tells you what is inside: contract.pdf.p7m holds a PDF, IT01234567890_00001.xml.p7m holds an XML invoice. Double-clicking it rarely works, because your computer doesn't know the .p7m type. This page opens the envelope and gives you the document as it was before signing, named without .p7m.

Why Italian invoices arrive as .xml.p7m

In Italy an e-invoice is an XML file in the FatturaPA format that passes through the tax agency's exchange system, the Sistema di Interscambio (SdI). The agency's technical specifications accept two signature formats: CAdES, which wraps the XML and gives a file named .xml.p7m, and XAdES, which puts the signature inside the XML and leaves it named .xml. Invoices to Italian public bodies must be signed; INPS, for one, writes that a FatturaPA "must be digitally signed by the supplier".

Either way the XML is the invoice. A PDF that sometimes comes with it by email is a courtesy copy.

The page shows the supplier and customer with their Partita IVA (VAT number), every line, the VAT summary, withholding tax and stamp duty where present, the total, and the payment terms with the IBAN. Labels and code lists are in English; descriptions stay as the supplier wrote them, usually in Italian. Attachments, such as a PDF copy some suppliers include, can be downloaded. A file holding several invoices shows each one.

What it does, and what it doesn't

  • Opens .p7m files and gives back the original document. It also reads files saved as Base64 text and envelopes inside envelopes (a .p7m.p7m).
  • Shows a FatturaPA invoice from an .xml.p7m or a plain .xml file, with Print or save as PDF for each invoice.
  • Shows each signer's name, tax code, organization and certificate issuer, the certificate's validity dates, and the signing time where the file gives it.
  • Opens several files at once, and you can add more at any time.
  • It doesn't check whether the signature is legally valid, or whether the certificate had expired or been revoked.
  • It doesn't open ZIP archives. Extract the files first.
  • A detached signature (a .p7s file, or a .p7m without the document) has nothing to take out: the document is a separate file.
  • It doesn't read an XAdES signature inside an .xml file: you see the invoice, not who signed it.
  • It doesn't lay out simplified invoices (types TD07, TD08 and TD09) as an invoice.

smime.p7m in an email

An attachment named smime.p7m is the body of an email that was signed or encrypted with S/MIME. The .p7m extension is used for both.

  • Signed: this page opens it, shows who signed, and gives you the message inside as a file to download. That file is the raw email part, text and headers, not a formatted email.
  • Encrypted: the page says so and stops. Only the recipient's email program can open it, with their private key.

Checking the signature

Opening a file and verifying its signature are different steps. Verifying checks that the document wasn't changed after signing and that the signer's certificate comes from a trusted provider and hadn't been revoked. InfoCert Sign and Aruba Sign do that on your computer. The European Commission's DSS demo does it online, but your file is sent to the Commission's servers and the service is for testing only.

Prices, uploads and what each tool can do are in P7M viewers compared.

Privacy: the file stays in your browser

The page reads the files with JavaScript inside your browser. Nothing is uploaded: not the .p7m, not the document, not the signer's details. Once the page has loaded it works without an internet connection, and closing the tab clears the files.

Questions

How do I open a .p7m file?

Drop it into the box on this page. It takes the original document out of the signed envelope and gives it back with its own name, such as contract.pdf, ready to open or download. An Italian e-invoice (.xml.p7m) is shown as a readable invoice. Nothing is uploaded and nothing needs installing.

How do I convert a P7M file to PDF?

If the file is a signed PDF (name.pdf.p7m), this page gives you the original PDF to open or download. If it's an Italian e-invoice (name.xml.p7m), open it here and click Print or save as PDF under the invoice.

Why can't I open a .p7m file in Adobe Reader?

A .p7m file is not a PDF. It is a signed envelope that holds a document, the signature and the signer's certificate. A PDF reader can open the document only after it has been taken out of the envelope.

What is smime.p7m in an email?

It's the body of an email that was signed or encrypted with S/MIME. A signed one opens here: you get the message text as a file and see who signed. An encrypted one can only be opened by the recipient's email program, with their private key.

Does this page check that the signature is valid?

No. It shows who signed and when, as written in the file, but it doesn't check the certificate against the trust lists or whether it was revoked. Use InfoCert Sign, Aruba Sign or the European Commission's DSS demo for that.

Sources

What this page sends