AO Converter

Extract text from AO files

Select File
Drop or upload your .AO file

Online File Converter

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How to extract text from your AO file

Click the "Select File" button above, and choose your AO file.
You’ll see a preview, if available.
Click the "Convert file to..." button to extract text information.

Convert AO to another file type

To convert your AO file to another format, you need DAISY Player or other Data software.

Convert a file to AO

To convert other file formats to the "Authorization & Outline Files" file type, you need software like DAISY Player or a similar tool.

About AO files

The .AO file extension acts as a container for three distinct legacy and specialized formats, creating a 'format lottery' for users. Statistically, the file is most likely a DAISY Book Authorization file, an XML-based component used by the DAISY Consortium software to manage permissions or structure for accessible audiobooks. These files are plain text (XML) but cannot be 'played' like audio files. Less frequently, an .AO file is a legacy Agenda One secure document database (historically used by GP Software AlfaOffice) or an ActionOutline document created by Green Parrots Software.

The biggest obstacle is that standard operating systems do not recognize any of these formats natively. Users attempting to open a DAISY .AO file often expect media playback but encounter errors, while users with old ActionOutline files find themselves locked out of their organized text data.

Best Conversion Targets:

For DAISY Files: Since these are internally XML, the pragmatic workaround is to rename the extension to XML or TXT to view the code structure in a browser or text editor.
For ActionOutline: The goal is data recovery. The proprietary format requires the original software to export content to RTF (Rich Text), DOCX, or HTML for modern use.
For Agenda One: These are proprietary databases. Conversion usually requires legacy software to extract data to CSV or TXT.

Convert.Guru analyzes your AO file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.

Users also converted PDF, PNG, ZIP, AAX and A3 files.

FAQ

If you want to convert AO file to A3, INDD, QXP, PUB, PMD, PM6, PM7, PM8, PM9, PM10, PM11 or OMP, you can use DAISY Player or similar software from the "DAISY Book Authorization" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….

To convert MDI, PUB, PDP, PM4, P65, COMIC, WEBTEMPLATE, PMD, SPUB, INDD, PM5 or QXP files to AO, try DAISY Player or another comparable tool in the "DAISY Book Authorization" category.

The AO Converter Story

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 AO converter.