You downloaded a reasoned decision or a writ from UYAP; the file ends in «.udf» and nothing on your computer will open it. Word does not help, and double-clicking brings up the app picker. The problem is not you: UDF is a proprietary document format used only in Turkey.
What is UDF?
UDF — UYAP Document Format — is the format used by Turkey's National Judiciary Informatics System, run by the Ministry of Justice. Petitions, writs, procedural orders and reasoned decisions are all downloaded with this extension.
The format is designed to preserve the document's integrity and the electronic signature on it. That is a sound design choice, but in practice it means a document that leaves the system is unreadable to the other side. The UDF you send a client will not open on their computer.
The official route: the UYAP Document Editor
The official answer is to install the Ministry's UYAP Document Editor. It is free and lets you open the file and use «save as PDF».
It works, but it does not suit every situation:
- It requires an installation, and may need Java on your machine.
- Whoever you send the document to needs the same program installed. Expecting that of a client is rarely realistic.
- On someone else's computer, or on a phone, you cannot install anything.
The install-free route: convert it to PDF
A UDF file is really an archive carrying the document's text and formatting. That structure can be decoded and redrawn — which means the file can be turned into a PDF right in the browser, with nothing installed.
The UDF tool on PDF Platform does exactly that, and does it on your device. That detail matters here: court documents carry party names, identity numbers and case details. The file is never sent to a server.
- Drop the file in: Drag the .udf file you downloaded from UYAP onto the area. You can drop several at once.
- Click «Convert to PDF»: The document is decoded in your browser, keeping fonts, bold and underlined text, alignment, tables and embedded images.
- Download it, or take the text: Download the PDF, or grab the plain text as a .txt file and paste it straight into Word.
UDF to PDF — Turn a .udf file from UYAP into a PDF on your own device, with nothing to install.
Important: the PDF copy is not the signed original
This distinction is worth underlining. The electronic signature in a UDF belongs to the document as it exists in that file. Convert it to PDF and you hold a readable copy — the signature itself does not carry over.
So: for reading, archiving, sending to a client or consulting a colleague, the PDF copy is perfectly fine. For an official filing, keep using the signed UDF original.
Other common UDF problems
- The file looks corrupt: the download may have been cut short. Download it again from UYAP.
- The file is too large to upload: usually because of images pasted into it; upload those as separate exhibits.
- It will not open on a phone: UYAP has a mobile editor app, but converting to PDF works on any device.
- The recipient cannot open it: send a PDF, not a UDF. As a rule, any document leaving the system should be a PDF.
If you want to edit the text in Word
There are two routes. The quick one: copy the .txt text the tool gives you and paste it. To keep the formatting as well, convert to PDF first and then convert the PDF to Word.