Extract text from HI files
To convert your HI file to another format, you need GHC or other Developer software.
To convert other file formats to the "Compiler Output" file type, you need software like GHC or a similar tool.
The .HI file extension presents a classic digital ambiguity: it is either a critical developer asset or a forgotten mobile artifact. In the technical realm, a .HI file is a Haskell Interface file generated by the Glasgow Haskell Compiler (GHC). These binary files act as the glue between Haskell source modules (HS files), storing symbol tables, type signatures, and optimization data. They are strictly proprietary to the compiler version that created them; a .HI file built with GHC 8.10 will often fail with GHC 9.0, causing frustrating "interface file mismatch" errors during builds. They are not designed to be human-readable, and opening them in a text editor typically results in garbled code.
However, for non-developers, a .HI file is frequently a hidden image artifact from older Samsung Android devices. In this context, the file is often just a standard JPEG thumbnail with its extension stripped or renamed to .HI for caching purposes within the gallery. Users typically encounter these when recovering data or digging through "LOST.DIR" folders, finding themselves unable to view their photos because desktop software like Adobe Photoshop or Microsoft Photos does not recognize the extension.
Best Conversion Targets:
ghc --show-iface) to inspect the binary interface data for debugging dependencies or optimizing exports.Convert.Guru analyzes your HI file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted 265, VCF, XVG and DOT files.
If you want to convert HI file to CSV, JSON, XML, YAML, YML, TOML, INI, CFG, CONF, DAT, DB or SQL, you can use GHC or similar software from the "Haskell Compiled Interface" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert DBF, XML, SQLITE, XLSX, SQL, TSV, ACCDB, YAML, MDB, CSV, ODS or JSON files to HI, try GHC or another comparable tool in the "Haskell Compiled Interface" 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 HI converter.