Convert COB files online for free
The converter easily converts your COB file to various formats - free and online. No Visual Studio Code or extra software needed.
The converter also works in reverse, so you can convert other Developer formats to COB with high quality output.
COBOL Object & Source Files
Most .cob files are associated with the Common Business Oriented Language (COBOL), specifically implementations by Micro Focus (now part of Rocket Software). These files typically contain compiled object code, which is binary data generated from source code to run on a specific machine architecture. This presents a major friction point: compiled .cob files are not human-readable. You cannot simply open them in a text editor like Notepad++ to view the logic; they require the original Micro Focus COBOL runtime environment or a specific decompiler, which is rarely perfect. If the file is actually uncompiled source code (less common but possible), it is plain text. For documentation or archiving, converting the source text to PDF or TXT is the standard workflow.
trueSpace 3D Models
A significant minority of .cob files are 3D scene objects created in trueSpace, a legacy 3D modeling suite by Caligari Corporation (acquired and discontinued by Microsoft). These files are now effectively orphaned. Modern suites like Blender or Autodesk 3ds Max do not support the .cob format natively. To salvage these assets for use in game engines (like Unity) or 3D printing, you must convert them to standard interchange formats like OBJ, FBX, or STL. Failing to convert these files leaves your 3D geometry locked inside discontinued software.
Use Convert.Guru to open and convert your COB file.
Users also converted TXT, INT, TSX and ERL files.
If you want to convert COB file to JS, TS, PY, JAVA, CPP, C, CS, PHP, RB, GO, RS or SWIFT, you can use Visual COBOL or similar software from the "Compiled Object Module" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert SH, PY, KT, PS1, SWIFT, LUA, PL, JAVA, SCALA, JS, VBS or TS files to COB, try Visual COBOL or another comparable tool in the "Compiled Object Module" 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 COB converter.