Extract text from GMA files
To convert your GMA file to another format, you need Garry's Mod or other Game software.
To convert other file formats to the "Modding Archive" file type, you need software like Garry's Mod or a similar tool.
A .GMA file is most frequently a Garry's Mod Addon file, a proprietary archive format developed by Facepunch Studios for the sandbox game Garry's Mod. These archives serve as containers for user-generated content downloaded from the Steam Workshop, packing thousands of assets like MDL models, VTF textures, WAV sounds, and Lua scripts into a single compressed package.
The primary challenge users face is that .GMA files are designed strictly for the game's internal loader. You cannot natively open them in Windows Explorer or standard unzipping tools like WinRAR or 7-Zip. This creates a significant barrier for content creators who wish to extract assets for editing in Blender or Source Filmmaker. Furthermore, these files can become quite large and consume disk space without an easy way to inspect their contents.
To access the internal files, the best solution is converting or extracting the .GMA to a standard ZIP archive. Once extracted, the individual components can be converted based on your needs: VTF textures to PNG for image editing, or MDL models to OBJ or FBX for 3D work.
*Note: A secondary, less common use of .GMA is as a Garmin Map Authentication file used by Garmin GPS devices to verify map ownership. These are small text-based keys and should not be converted, as doing so will break map functionality.*
Convert.Guru analyzes your GMA file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted ZIP, BSP, GMPUBLISHER, BIN, MDL, GM, VTX, VVD, VTF, PHY, VMF, RAR and BBMODEL files.
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 GMA converter.