Extract text from Explain Everything projects (EXPLAIN)
To convert EXPLAIN projects to another format, you need Explain Everything or other Data software.
To convert other file formats to the "Whiteboard Project File" file type, you need software like Explain Everything or a similar tool.
An .explain file is an interactive whiteboard project created specifically for Explain Everything. These files serve as digital canvases that store imported documents, hand-drawn annotations, text elements, voice recordings, and animation timelines. They are heavily utilized in e-learning environments, corporate presentations, and remote collaboration scenarios to share dynamic, instructional content.
This format is highly restrictive and proprietary. Users face severe limitations because .explain files cannot be opened by standard web browsers, media players, or basic operating systems. Viewing, editing, or playing back the presentation requires the dedicated Explain Everything application, which typically demands a paid subscription. This creates a significant barrier when sharing projects with students or colleagues who do not possess the necessary software.
To share this content universally, you must convert the file. The best target formats are MP4 for full video playback of animations and audio, or PDF for reading static slides. Be aware that converting to PDF strips away all interactivity, voiceover tracks, and motion elements, leaving only static visual snapshots of the whiteboard.
Because the format relies on proprietary rendering logic and custom XML structures, this file format is difficult to open or convert with standard online tools. Often, only the original software can properly read or export the project timeline. However, an .explain file is fundamentally just a ZIP archive holding raw media assets.
Convert.Guru analyzes your EXPLAIN file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted ENB, EDD and EBF files.
If you want to convert EXPLAIN file to CSV, JSON, XML, YAML, YML, TOML, INI, CFG, CONF, DAT, DB or SQL, you can use Explain Everything or similar software from the "Interactive whiteboard project file" 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 EXPLAIN, try Explain Everything or another comparable tool in the "Interactive whiteboard project file" 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 EXPLAIN converter.