PKPASS File Won’t Open or Add to Wallet? How to Fix It

1. Save the .pkpass file to your device. If it is still in an email, download the attachment.
2. In the box above, click Choose a .pkpass file and pick it.
3. A pass with its barcode means the file is a readable pass. The cause is then the device, the app or the issuer, so go to the device steps below.
4. A message instead of a pass means the file itself has a problem. The table says what each one means.

The viewer reads the file’s content, not its name, so a pass that was saved as .zip or without an extension still opens here.

Those are the messages the viewer has. It does not check the signature, so it can show a pass that Wallet would refuse. More on that below.

• Download it again. Open the original email and save the attachment fresh. A file of a few bytes, or 0 KB, was cut off.
• Save before you open. If your email app shows the attachment only as a file icon or a preview, save the file to your device first, then open it here or on your iPhone.
• Use Apple’s apps on an Apple device. Apple’s guide says Mail and Safari support passes (Apple’s archived Wallet guide “Distributing Passes”). If another app does nothing with the attachment, try the same email in Mail.
• A ticket link that downloads a file instead of showing an Add screen. The same guide says Mail and Safari expect the type application/vnd.apple.pkpass, set on the sender’s web server or email system. We can’t see their setup, so tell the sender.

• iPhone. Open the email or app with the pass and tap Add to Apple Wallet. If you see no such option, Apple says to contact the merchant or company that issued the pass and check they support passes in Wallet (Apple’s support article “Add, use, and share tickets and passes in Apple Wallet”). The step-by-step version is in open a pkpass file on iPhone and Mac.
• Mac. Apple’s page for Safari says to click Add to Wallet in the pass, with iCloud set up (Apple’s “Add passes to Wallet in Safari on Mac”). To just see a file, open it in the viewer above.
• Android. The phone may have no app set to open this Apple format, so use the viewer. Steps: open a pkpass file on Android. About Google Wallet and Samsung Wallet: add a pkpass file to Google Wallet.
• Windows. Open the file in the viewer above, then save or print it. Steps: open a pkpass file on Windows.

The viewer reads pass.json and the images. It does not read manifest.json or check the signature, so a pass can look fine here and still be rejected by Wallet. In Apple’s “Building a Pass”, Apple lists what to check when a pass does not build correctly. The items that matter here:

• pass.json has all the required keys.
• passTypeIdentifier and teamIdentifier match the signing certificate, and the certificate has not expired.
• The manifest covers all the source files, and the images are present and in the right format.
• The JSON is valid and dates use the ISO 8601 format.

Only whoever made the pass can fix these. Ask the issuer to send a new file, or use their app or website to get the ticket.

Often you don’t need Wallet to accept the pass. You need the barcode on a screen or on paper. Because the viewer reads pass.json and the images and does not check the signature, it can show a pass that Wallet turns down:

1. Open the file in the viewer above. If the pass and its barcode appear, you can hold up the browser tab at the gate.
2. Tap Save as PNG (free) to keep an image you can show offline or print (what the PNG contains). PDF export (1, 2 or 4 passes per page) is paid, from US$4.90 (convert a pkpass file to PDF).
3. Look at the status lines under the pass. “Voided by the issuer” or a past Expires date means the issuer no longer honours it.
4. Test-scan the screen or printout with another phone before you rely on it.

Two reasons Wallet may refuse a file that still opens here. An expired signing certificate is one: Apple lists it among the reasons a pass does not build, and in a thread on Apple’s support forum a user whose pass did nothing when tapped found the certificate in it had expired in March 2021. A .pkpasses file, which holds several passes, is the other: a reply in another thread on Apple’s support forum says Wallet can’t read it and to unzip it on a computer. The viewer opens a bundle and lists the passes inside.

A barcode shown here is not proof that the gate will accept it. Only the issuer’s scanner decides, and an expired certificate does not tell you whether the booking itself is still valid. If it matters, ask the issuer for a fresh pass.

Not in a way that works. The manifest lists a hash of every file and the signature covers the manifest, so changing a file makes the pass no longer match what was signed. You can unzip a .pkpass and read it, as the pkpass file format page explains, but you can’t sign it again. That is also why this site only shows passes and has no editor.

• The sender’s app or website. It often has the same ticket and live changes.
• A PDF or web boarding pass. Some airlines and sellers offer one. Look in the original email.
• An image of the pass. If the file opens here, save a pkpass file as a PNG image is free. PDF export is paid, from US$4.90 (convert a pkpass file to PDF). Some issuers accept only their own app or document, so check their rules.
• The issuer’s support. Tell them what the viewer said. A message such as “not valid JSON” points to their file.

Back to the PKPASS viewer page.