Extract text from BCL files
To convert your BCL file to another format, you need bcl2fastq or other Data software.
To convert other file formats to the "Sequencing & Automation" file type, you need software like bcl2fastq or a similar tool.
The .BCL extension serves two distinct, high-friction technical purposes that often confuse users due to their incompatibility. Most commonly in scientific environments, a .BCL file is a Base Call file generated by Illumina DNA sequencing instruments. These are binary files containing raw sequencing data (per-cycle base calls). The primary problem here is that .BCL files are not human-readable and are proprietary to the sequencing machine; researchers cannot analyze them directly. They must be demultiplexed and converted into standard FASTQ files using command-line tools like bcl2fastq or BCL Convert before any bioinformatics alignment or analysis can occur.
Alternatively, in engineering workflows, a .BCL file is a Batch Conversion List created by Acme CAD Converter. This is a simple text-based file that stores a list of DWG or DXF file paths scheduled for batch processing. While less complex, users often get stuck with this format when trying to share a "list of drawings" with a colleague who doesn't possess the specific Acme software. In this case, the file is functionally useless unless converted to a plain TXT file or PDF report to view the referenced paths. Rarely, .BCL may also represent a GZIP-compressed log file from BlackBerry servers, requiring decompression rather than conversion.
Convert.Guru analyzes your BCL file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted CLIENT, TOC and BEF files.
If you want to convert BCL file to CSV, JSON, XML, YAML, YML, TOML, INI, CFG, CONF, DAT, DB or SQL, you can use bcl2fastq or similar software from the "DNA Sequencing Data Storage" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert DBF, XML, SQLITE, XLSX, SQL, TSV, ACCDB, YAML, MDB, CSV, ODS or JSON files to BCL, try bcl2fastq or another comparable tool in the "DNA Sequencing Data Storage" 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 BCL converter.