ELC Converter

Extract text from ELC files

Select File
Drop or upload your .ELC file

Online File Converter

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How to extract text from your ELC file

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

Convert ELC to another file type

To convert your ELC file to another format, you need GNU Emacs or other Developer software.

Convert a file to ELC

To convert other file formats to the "Compiled Script / Science Data" file type, you need software like GNU Emacs or a similar tool.

About ELC files

The .ELC extension represents two completely different file types that often confuse users: Emacs Compiled Lisp scripts and ANT Neuro Electrode Coordinate files.

1. Emacs Compiled Lisp:
Most commonly, an .ELC file is a binary byte-code file generated by GNU Emacs. Users compile their human-readable EL source code into .ELC to speed up loading times.

The Problem: Because these are binary files, they are unreadable in standard text editors. A common friction point occurs when users lose the original EL source file and are left with only the compiled .ELC. You cannot easily edit these files or view the logic inside without decompiling them.
The Solution: For recovery, these files can be converted back to EL (decompiled) or viewed as TXT to inspect the byte-code structure. Ideally, you should always keep the source, but conversion tools help when that fails.

2. ANT Neuro Electrode Coordinates:
In neuroscience, .ELC files store 3D spatial coordinates (X, Y, Z) for EEG caps used with ANT Neuro systems and ASA software.

The Problem: Research data is often locked into this specific format. Scientists frequently encounter compatibility issues when trying to import these coordinates into third-party analysis tools like MATLAB (EEGLAB) or Python (MNE) because the format does not natively parse as a standard spreadsheet.

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

Users also converted ENC, PW, AIG and ORG files.

FAQ

If you want to convert ELC file to JS, TS, PY, JAVA, CPP, C, CS, PHP, RB, GO, RS or SWIFT, you can use GNU Emacs or similar software from the "Compiled Lisp & EEG Coordinates" 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 ELC, try GNU Emacs or another comparable tool in the "Compiled Lisp & EEG Coordinates" category.

The ELC 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 ELC converter.