Extract text from OpenOffice AutoText files (BAU)
To convert BAU files to another format, you need Apache OpenOffice or other Settings software.
To convert other file formats to the "Software Configuration File" file type, you need software like Apache OpenOffice or a similar tool.
The .BAU file format is primarily used as an AutoText Glossary Document by Apache OpenOffice and LibreOffice. It stores reusable text snippets and formatting blocks for quick insertion into text documents. Secondary, highly niche uses include student grade reports from the National Technical University of Athens and assessment overviews from the Schild-NRW school administration software.
To natively open and edit the primary type of .BAU files, you need Apache OpenOffice Writer or LibreOffice Writer. For institutional variations, the specific university or administration software is strictly required.
Users typically need to convert .BAU files when migrating away from OpenOffice to other word processors like Microsoft Word. The major disadvantage of this format is its proprietary application lock-in. Word cannot import .BAU AutoText entries directly, forcing users to recreate their building blocks from scratch. Institutional .BAU files face an even stricter limitation, as they are completely closed data formats meant only for localized database imports.
For the OpenOffice AutoText version, the best conversion targets are XML or TXT. Because the file is essentially a standard compressed ZIP archive under a different name, you can extract the raw text data. Be aware that specific OpenOffice formatting tags will be lost or require manual cleanup in the resulting text.
This file format is notoriously difficult to process natively outside its parent ecosystem. Often, only the original software can properly read, parse, or export the exact text block formatting. However, just drag and drop your file to identify the format, view it, and convert it when possible on convert.guru. If our analysis detects the supported underlying ZIP or XML structure, viewing the raw text or extraction may still be possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your BAU file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted SX, RELS and OTF files.
If you want to convert BAU file to INI, CFG, CONF, CONFIG, JSON, XML, YAML, YML, TOML, ENV, PROPERTIES or RC, you can use Apache OpenOffice or similar software from the "AutoText Glossary Document" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert ZSHRC, CONF, RCFILE, GITCONFIG, RC, PLIST, BASHRC, CONFIG, PROFILE, INI, PREFS or CFG files to BAU, try Apache OpenOffice or another comparable tool in the "AutoText Glossary Document" 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 BAU converter.