Extract text from Flight Simulator gauge files (GAU)
To convert GAU gauge files to another format, you need Microsoft Flight Simulator or other Plugin software.
To convert other file formats to the "Simulator Add-on Binary" file type, you need software like Microsoft Flight Simulator or a similar tool.
A .GAU file is predominantly a compiled instrument gauge utilized by legacy versions of Microsoft Flight Simulator (MSFS). These files contain the visual assets and programmed logic required to render functional altimeters, navigation displays, and engine instruments within a virtual aircraft cockpit. Alternatively, some .GAU files store mathematical source code written in the GAUSS programming language.
Flight simulation enthusiasts and developers typically load .GAU files directly into the simulator engine or manage them using add-on interfaces like FSUIPC. In contrast, GAUSS source files are plain text scripts managed by the Aptech GAUSS statistical software.
Users frequently need to convert .GAU files to modernize legacy aircraft models for newer simulators. The massive disadvantage here is that an MSFS .GAU file is not a standard media file - it is actually a compiled 32-bit Windows binary, structurally identical to a DLL or EXE file. It is a proprietary, closed-source format that requires a $50+ base simulator to utilize, and it is entirely unsupported by web browsers or standard text editors. You cannot simply convert a compiled C++ binary into a modern web format.
Modern flight simulators utilize open XML or HTML5 formats for gauges. To migrate an old panel, developers must extract the embedded BMP graphics from the .GAU file and rewrite the logic. GAUSS source code files, conversely, can be easily converted to standard TXT or CSV formats.
Because the primary format is a compiled executable, standard online converters fail to process it. Only the original software or specialized resource hackers can properly read or export the data. If our analysis detects an underlying text format or embedded bitmap resources, viewing or partial conversion may still be possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your GAU file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted FRC, MTA and CGL files.
If you want to convert GAU file to TMP, TEMP, CACHE, LOG, BAK, OLD, NEW, PART, DOWNLOAD, CRDOWNLOAD, LOCK or PID, you can use Microsoft Flight Simulator or similar software from the "Flight Simulator Instrument Gauge" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert DEVICE, CACHE, SOCK, SYMLINK, PID, MOUNT, FIFO, LOG, PIPE, TMP, JUNCTION or TEMP files to GAU, try Microsoft Flight Simulator or another comparable tool in the "Flight Simulator Instrument Gauge" 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 GAU converter.