Extract text from HLP files
To convert your HLP file to another format, you need Microsoft Windows or other E-Book software.
To convert other file formats to the "Compiled Help Manual" file type, you need software like Microsoft Windows or a similar tool.
A .HLP file is a legacy Windows Help documentation file, originally the standard for providing on-screen software manuals and contextual help in operating systems ranging from Windows 3.1 to Windows XP. These files compile Rich Text Format (RTF) data, bitmap images, and hyperlinked topic structures into a single proprietary binary.
Since the release of Windows Vista, and aggressively in Windows 10 and Windows 11, Microsoft has deprecated and removed the WinHlp32.exe viewer required to open these files due to security vulnerabilities involving macros. This leaves users with a significant "digital rot" problem: valuable technical documentation, retro gaming manuals, and legacy software instructions are trapped in a format that modern operating systems refuse to open natively. Attempting to force-install the old viewer is complex and risky.
To access this content safely and reliably, the best workflow is conversion. For archiving and easy reading on any device, convert .HLP to PDF. If you need to preserve the navigation tree and search functionality for modern software projects, convert to CHM (Compiled HTML Help) or standard HTML for web hosting. To edit the text content, converting back to RTF or DOCX allows you to update the documentation in modern word processors like Microsoft Word.
Convert.Guru analyzes your HLP file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted CHM, GID, HPL, CNT, ZIP, PDF, SHG, HELP, EXE, RTF, URL, LAY6 and PLAN files.
If you want to convert HLP file to CHM, PDF, HTML, SYS, DLL, EXE, DRV, VXD, 386, COM, BAT or CMD, you can use Microsoft Windows or similar software from the "Legacy Software Documentation" 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 HLP, try Microsoft Windows or another comparable tool in the "Legacy Software Documentation" 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 HLP converter.