CFB Converter

Extract text from CFB files

Select File
Drop or upload your .CFB file

Online File Converter

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How to extract text from your CFB file

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

Convert CFB to another file type

To convert your CFB file to another format, you need Microsoft Office or other Data software.

Convert a file to CFB

To convert other file formats to the "Structured Storage" file type, you need software like Microsoft Office or a similar tool.

About CFB files

The .cfb extension most commonly identifies a Microsoft Compound File Binary, also known as OLE2. This is not a standard document but a hierarchical "file system within a file" used as a container for older Microsoft Office documents (97-2003 formats like DOC, XLS, PPT), MSI installers, and system thumbnails (Thumbs.db).

The Problem: Users often encounter raw .cfb files when data recovery software restores a file without its original extension or when an internal system file is exposed. Because it is a generic container, double-clicking it usually fails, leaving the user unsure if it is a spreadsheet, a text document, or a corrupt system file. Proprietary formats like CAST Wysiwyg (lighting design) and Cellebrite UFED (forensic reports) also use this extension, creating further confusion.

The Solution:

For Microsoft Containers: If the file is a renamed Office document, rename the extension to DOC or XLS and attempt to open it in Microsoft Office. Alternatively, treat it as an archive: open it with 7-Zip to inspect the internal streams and extract text or images. For viewing without software, convert the internal content to PDF.
For CAST Wysiwyg: These are lighting fixture library files used by CAST Wysiwyg for stage design. They must be opened in the native software to view or export 3D plots.
For Cellebrite: These are encrypted forensic reports generated by Cellebrite UFED, accessible only by authorized investigators.

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

Users also converted CBF, SFB, DOC, PDF, PNG, CDW, PKPASS, JSS, EBO and LTB files.

FAQ

If you want to convert CFB file to CSV, JSON, XML, YAML, YML, TOML, INI, CFG, CONF, DAT, DB or SQL, you can use Microsoft Office or similar software from the "Structured Data Container" 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 CFB, try Microsoft Office or another comparable tool in the "Structured Data Container" category.

The CFB 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 CFB converter.