Extract text from ACA files
To convert your ACA file to another format, you need Microsoft Agent or other System software.
To convert other file formats to the "Legacy Animation & Data" file type, you need software like Microsoft Agent or a similar tool.
The .ACA extension represents a collision of three legacy formats, each requiring specific conversion workflows to access their contents on modern systems.
Historically, these files contained individual animations for Microsoft Agent characters (like Peedy, Merlin, or the infamous BonziBuddy). Unlike the main ACS character file, .ACA files were designed as lightweight, cacheable HTTP downloads that stored specific actions (e.g., "Wave," "Read," "Congratulate").
The Problem: The Microsoft Agent ActiveX control was discontinued in Windows 7. Trying to open these files today results in "Class Not Registered" errors. They are proprietary binary containers that modern video players cannot read.
The Solution:
In legacy versions of the Project64 Nintendo 64 emulator, .ACA files were sometimes used to store cheat code libraries. While modern versions use CHT files, you may encounter these in old ROM archives.
The Solution: These are often simple text or structured binary files. Convert or rename them to TXT to view the codes, or manually import the data into a modern CHT file.
A relic of the format wars, this .ACA file is a container used by HD DVD discs to store interactive menus and JavaScript. It is essentially a renamed archive.
The Solution: Rename the extension from .ACA to ZIP or TAR to extract and view the internal XML, PNG, and JS assets.
Convert.Guru analyzes your ACA file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted DOC, XLSX, XML, CPA and FCA files.
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 ACA converter.