Click the "Select File" button above, and choose your HEADER file.
You’ll see a preview, if available.
Click the "Convert file to..." button to extract text information.
Convert HEADER to another file type
To convert HEADER headers to another format, you need Altium P-CAD or other Data software.
Convert a file to HEADER
To convert other file formats to the "Database Metadata & Routing" file type, you need software like Altium P-CAD or a similar tool.
About HEADER files
A .HEADER file operates as an isolated metadata container. It primarily serves two functions: as a legacy P-CAD Database Header File for printed circuit board (PCB) designs, or as an Internet Message Format (RFC 5322) email message header. These files have severe disadvantages. First, they are fragmented. A header file lacks the primary payload. It does not contain the actual PCB schematic or the email message body. Second, P-CAD files are proprietary and legacy. Altium discontinued P-CAD in 2006, meaning these database headers require outdated, expensive software to open natively. Email headers, while technically plain text, contain dense server routing data that is unreadable to average users. Because of these limits, users frequently need to convert .HEADER files into standard formats. The best target formats are TXT or CSV for text extraction, or PDF for sharing routing logs with IT support. Converting the file will not restore missing data, but it will make the existing metadata accessible. Standard online converters fail with these files because they are either highly proprietary binary files or raw text fragments that break standard conversion engines. This file format is difficult to open or convert correctly. Often, only the original software can properly read or export the data. Just drag and drop your file to convert.guru to identify the format, view it, and convert it when possible. convert.guru can inspect the file and show text or internal content. If our analysis detects a supported underlying or embedded format, viewing or conversion may still be possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your HEADER file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
If you want to convert HEADER file to JSON, JS, TS, PY, JAVA, CPP, C, CS, PHP, RB, GO or RS, you can use Altium P-CAD or similar software from the "Metadata and Configuration Storage" 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 HEADER, try Altium P-CAD or another comparable tool in the "Metadata and Configuration Storage" category.
The HEADER 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 HEADER converter.