> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://bun-1dd33a4e-farm-ad2450b3-transpiler-cache-version-namespa.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Read a file to an ArrayBuffer

The `Bun.file()` function accepts a path and returns a `BunFile` instance. `BunFile` extends `Blob`, so you can read the file lazily in a variety of formats. Use `.arrayBuffer()` to read the file as an `ArrayBuffer`.

```ts index.ts icon="https://mintcdn.com/bun-1dd33a4e-farm-ad2450b3-transpiler-cache-version-namespa/pVrMBuZvntvIe2NO/icons/typescript.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=pVrMBuZvntvIe2NO&q=85&s=81fcaf3ac2cead5d758f3588a492f46a" theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"dracula"}}
const path = "/path/to/package.json";
const file = Bun.file(path);

const buffer = await file.arrayBuffer();
```

***

Read the binary content of the `ArrayBuffer` with a typed array, such as `Int8Array`. For `Uint8Array`, use [`.bytes()`](/guides/read-file/uint8array).

```ts index.ts icon="https://mintcdn.com/bun-1dd33a4e-farm-ad2450b3-transpiler-cache-version-namespa/pVrMBuZvntvIe2NO/icons/typescript.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=pVrMBuZvntvIe2NO&q=85&s=81fcaf3ac2cead5d758f3588a492f46a" theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"dracula"}}
const buffer = await file.arrayBuffer();
const bytes = new Int8Array(buffer);

bytes[0];
bytes.length;
```

***

See [Typed arrays](/runtime/binary-data#typedarray) for more on working with typed arrays in Bun.