Extract text from route plans (AXE)
To convert AXE routes to another format, you need Microsoft AutoRoute or other GIS software.
To convert other file formats to the "Navigation Route File" file type, you need software like Microsoft AutoRoute or a similar tool.
The .AXE file extension is predominantly used as a saved route plan file created by Microsoft AutoRoute, a legacy mapping software discontinued in 2014. These files use the proprietary Microsoft Compound file format to store journey start points, waypoints, destinations, and calculated routing data. A secondary use for .AXE files is as motorcycle tour route files associated with TomTom Navigator or Motorrad Tourenplaner software.
Because Microsoft AutoRoute is obsolete and unsupported on modern operating systems, relying on .AXE files poses a severe data lock-in risk. The proprietary nature of the format means that modern GPS devices and web browsers cannot natively read the route data. Users frequently need to convert these files to open, standardized geospatial formats like GPX (GPS Exchange Format) or KML (Keyhole Markup Language) to load them into modern tools like Google Maps, Garmin devices, or smartphones. During conversion, you may lose specific AutoRoute metadata like custom fuel calculations or proprietary travel times, but the core geographic coordinates usually remain intact.
Converting .AXE files is notoriously difficult because the proprietary binary structure is closed and undocumented. Standard online converters often fail to process it since they lack the original rendering engine. Even if full routing calculation conversion is impossible without the original software, our tool helps you safely inspect the file's contents to see what can be salvaged.
Convert.Guru analyzes your AXE file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted EXE, AXS, XLSX, TXT and ZIP files.
If you want to convert AXE file to SHP, KML, KMZ, GPX, GEOJSON, TOPOJSON, TIF, TIFF, ECW, SID, IMG or DEM, you can use Microsoft AutoRoute or similar software from the "Route Planning and Navigation" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert LAZ, KMZ, DTM, CSV, DEM, PRJ, LAS, GPX, DSM, SHP, DBF or KML files to AXE, try Microsoft AutoRoute or another comparable tool in the "Route Planning and Navigation" 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 AXE converter.