DWL Converter

Extract text from DWL files

Select File
Drop or upload your .DWL file

Online File Converter

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How to extract text from your DWL file

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

Convert DWL to another file type

To convert your DWL file to another format, you need Autodesk AutoCAD or other Cad software.

Convert a file to DWL

To convert other file formats to the "Temporary Lock File" file type, you need software like Autodesk AutoCAD or a similar tool.

About DWL files

A .DWL file is primarily a Drawing Lock File generated automatically by CAD software, most notably Autodesk AutoCAD and TurboCAD. These small, temporary files are created when a user opens a drawing (Reference: .DWG) to prevent other users on the network from simultaneously editing the same file and causing data corruption.

The Conversion Problem: Users often attempt to convert .DWL files believing they contain their architectural designs or engineering schematics, usually because the main DWG file is missing, corrupt, or hidden. This is a critical misunderstanding: the .DWL file contains no image data. It is a simple text or binary snippet (typically under 1KB) recording the username, computer name, and time the file was accessed.

The Solution:

For Recovery: You cannot convert a .DWL into a PDF, JPG, or DWG. You must locate the original DWG file or its backup (Reference: .BAK).
For Troubleshooting: If you cannot open a drawing because it says it is "in use," checking the .DWL file (by opening it with a text editor like Notepad) can reveal who has it locked. If the software has crashed and the .DWL persists, deleting it manually often resolves file access errors.

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

Users also converted DWL2, DWG, BAK, PDF, DWF, ZIP, DXF, RAR, SV$, BIN, JPG, DVL and SDOCX files.

FAQ

If you want to convert DWL file to DWG, DXF, DGN, RVT, RFA, SKP, 3DM, STEP, IGES, SAT, X_T or X_B, you can use Autodesk AutoCAD or similar software from the "Temporary File Locking" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….

To convert SLDASM, DGN, PRT, IAM, X_B, CATPRODUCT, SLDPRT, RVT, ASM, DWG, CATPART or DXF files to DWL, try Autodesk AutoCAD or another comparable tool in the "Temporary File Locking" category.

The DWL 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 DWL converter.