Extract text from legacy address books (AB2)
To convert AB2 address books to another format, you need Ability Office or other Database software.
To convert other file formats to the "Contact Management" file type, you need software like Ability Office or a similar tool.
The .AB2 file extension is a binary database format primarily associated with legacy address book applications. The most common origin (approx. 64%) is the Ability Address Book, a module within the Ability Office suite used to store contact information, mailing lists, and personal data. A secondary but significant origin is The Print Shop by Broderbund, where .AB2 files served as the native address storage for mail-merge projects like greeting cards and newsletters.
The Problem: .AB2 files are proprietary binary databases, not plain text. You cannot simply double-click them in Windows 11 or macOS, nor can you open them directly in Microsoft Excel or text editors like Notepad. Users often rediscover these files in old backups only to find their contact data locked inside obsolete software that no longer runs on modern operating systems. To access the names, addresses, and phone numbers inside, the data must be extracted and structured into a universal format.
The Solution: For modern utility, the goal is to convert the .AB2 database into a CSV (Comma Separated Values) file for spreadsheets, a VCF (vCard) for importing into smartphones and Outlook, or a PDF for archival printing.
Convert.Guru analyzes your AB2 file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted ABA, ABBU and AB1 files.
If you want to convert AB2 file to , you can use Ability Office or similar software from the "Address Book Database" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert files to AB2, try Ability Office or another comparable tool in the "Address Book Database" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our AB2 converter.