Extract text from Windows contact groups (GROUP)
To convert GROUP contact groups to another format, you need Windows Contacts or other Data software.
To convert other file formats to the "Windows Contact Group" file type, you need software like Windows Contacts or a similar tool.
The .group file is an XML-based file used by Microsoft Windows to store a collection of contacts. Typically found in the legacy Windows Contacts folder, it organizes multiple individual contact files into a single mailing list or contact group.
Opening a .group file outside of its native environment is challenging. The format relies on local file paths pointing to specific contact files on the host machine. This dependency means that sharing a .group file with someone else, or trying to import it into modern address books like Gmail or Outlook, usually fails. The format is effectively obsolete, having been superseded by the Windows People app and cloud-based contact management systems.
Users typically need to convert .group files to universally recognized formats like CSV (Comma Separated Values) or VCF (vCard) to migrate their mailing lists to modern platforms. Converting allows you to bypass the restrictive Windows Contacts ecosystem.
Because it relies on external file references, a standalone .group file is difficult to fully convert if the linked contact files are missing. Furthermore, because it uses a highly specific XML schema, standard online converters often fail to process it as a contact list. Just drag and drop your file to convert.guru to identify the format, view its internal XML structure, and extract the raw email address data when possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your GROUP file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted JET, ACCDB and EXE files.
If you want to convert GROUP file to SYS, DLL, EXE, DRV, VXD, 386, COM, BAT, CMD, SCR, PIF or LNK, you can use Windows Contacts or similar software from the "Contact Group Storage" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert MSI, EXE, REG, MST, LNK, CAB, CAT, DRV, INF, SYS, MSU or DLL files to GROUP, try Windows Contacts or another comparable tool in the "Contact Group Storage" 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 GROUP converter.