Extract text from HHK files
To convert your HHK file to another format, you need HTML Help Workshop or other Developer software.
To convert other file formats to the "Help Authoring Source" file type, you need software like HTML Help Workshop or a similar tool.
The .HHK file acts as the navigational backbone for legacy Windows help documentation. It is specifically an HTML Help Keyword Index file, authored as a plain text file containing a specialized HTML-based syntax (often using <OBJECT> tags and unordered lists). These files are strictly source components; they are meant to be compiled alongside HHC (Table of Contents) and HHP (Project) files into a final CHM (Compiled HTML Help) binary using the deprecated Microsoft HTML Help Workshop.
Because .HHK files are merely ingredients for a larger archive, attempting to "open" them usually results in confusion. Double-clicking might launch a web browser that displays a broken or unformatted list of keywords, or it might prompt a search for a compatible application. The file format is technically human-readable, but its heavy use of ActiveX-style object parameters makes it difficult to parse visually. For documentation managers or developers trying to migrate old help systems, this format is a significant bottleneck. To make the content useful outside the Microsoft ecosystem, the best approach is to convert the .HHK to standard HTML for web viewing, or TXT to extract the raw keyword list for database importation or content auditing.
Convert.Guru analyzes your HHK file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted CHM, HHS and HCW files.
If you want to convert HHK file to SYS, DLL, EXE, DRV, VXD, 386, COM, BAT, CMD, SCR, PIF or LNK, you can use HTML Help Workshop or similar software from the "Help System Indexing" 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 HHK, try HTML Help Workshop or another comparable tool in the "Help System Indexing" 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 HHK converter.