Extract text from ARL files
To convert your ARL file to another format, you need Hedgehog Engine or other Game software.
To convert other file formats to the "Archive Index" file type, you need software like Hedgehog Engine or a similar tool.
The .arl extension creates a unique challenge because it serves two completely different communities with distinct needs. Most commonly, it acts as an Archive List file used by the Hedgehog Engine, the proprietary game engine powering modern Sonic the Hedgehog titles like Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Generations, and Sonic Forces. These files function as look-up tables or indices that accompany large AR archives, telling the game engine where specific assets (textures, models, audio) are located within the compressed data. You cannot open these directly in standard image or audio editors; they are strictly binary data maps. Users often attempt to convert these when modding games to extract assets, requiring specialized community-built unpacking tools rather than standard converters.
However, a significant number of users encounter .arl files as proprietary documents created by InPage, a word processor widely used for Urdu, Pashto, and Sindhi languages. Unlike DOCX files, InPage documents use a legacy encoding system that is fundamentally incompatible with Microsoft Word or standard text editors. This creates immense friction for users trying to share files with colleagues who do not own the licensed software. Opening these files without InPage results in gibberish text. To make this content usable, the best workflow is converting the file to PDF for viewing or using InPage's export features to convert the proprietary text into standard Unicode for web and email use. Less frequently, .arl files appear as legacy "Favorite Places" databases from AOL (America Online) software or saved article lists from Android readers.
Convert.Guru analyzes your ARL file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted ARCACHEITEM, INP, JPG, CBF, GRO and HOG files.
If you want to convert ARL file to JPG, PDF, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, TIF, WEBP, ICO, CUR, PSD or PSB, you can use Hedgehog Engine or similar software from the "Game Asset Archive Index" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert RAW, PNG, AI, NEF, PSB, DNG, SVG, GIF, EPS, JPG, ARW or PDF files to ARL, try Hedgehog Engine or another comparable tool in the "Game Asset Archive Index" 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 ARL converter.