CAC Converter

Extract text from CAC files

Select File
Drop or upload your .CAC file

Online File Converter

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How to extract text from your CAC file

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

Convert CAC to another file type

To convert your CAC file to another format, you need Matplotlib or other Data software.

Convert a file to CAC

To convert other file formats to the "Cache Data File" file type, you need software like Matplotlib or a similar tool.

About CAC files

The .CAC file extension is a generic container primarily associated with application caching and legacy database storage. It functions as a "polysemic" format, meaning its internal structure depends entirely on the software that created it.

Most commonly, modern users encounter .CAC files as cached plot images generated by the Matplotlib Python library. In this context, the file is often just a standard PNG image disguised with a different extension, confusing image viewers.

Alternatively, in enterprise environments, .CAC files may be legacy database artifacts from the Microsoft Jet Database Engine (used by Microsoft Access) or contact lists from the obsolete Microsoft Schedule+. These files are proprietary, binary-encoded, and practically impossible to open without the original 1990s-era software.

Creative professionals might also see this extension as a material catalog file for Clip Studio Paint, where it serves as an index rather than a content file.

Common Friction Points:

Identity Crisis: A Matplotlib .CAC is an image, while a Microsoft .CAC is a database. Standard tools cannot distinguish them automatically.
Obsolescence: Microsoft Schedule+ files are dead formats, making data extraction difficult without specialized conversion tools.
Incompatibility: These files are often intended for internal software use (caching) and lack support in standard web browsers or editors.

Best Conversion Targets:

For Matplotlib Files: Convert to PNG or JPG for immediate viewing and web use.
For Database/Legacy Files: Convert to CSV or XLSX to recover tabular data, contacts, or logs for use in modern spreadsheet software.
For Archiving: Convert to PDF if the file contains printable reports or visual data.

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

Users also converted JPG, CACHE, SAS, TGS, PLP, HAR, KRA, SDOCX, TMP, CFG, BIN, PDF and ZIP files.

FAQ

If you want to convert CAC file to TMP, TEMP, CACHE, LOG, BAK, OLD, NEW, PART, DOWNLOAD, CRDOWNLOAD, LOCK or PID, you can use Matplotlib or similar software from the "Application Cache or Database" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….

To convert DEVICE, CACHE, SOCK, SYMLINK, PID, MOUNT, FIFO, LOG, PIPE, TMP, JUNCTION or TEMP files to CAC, try Matplotlib or another comparable tool in the "Application Cache or Database" category.

The CAC 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 CAC converter.