Extract text from Outlook holiday files (HOL)
To convert HOL holiday files to another format, you need Microsoft Outlook or other Data software.
To convert other file formats to the "Outlook Holiday List File" file type, you need software like Microsoft Outlook or a similar tool.
A .HOL file is a plain-text configuration file used by Microsoft Outlook to distribute and import lists of holidays, sporting events, or corporate schedules. These files contain simple text data - typically encoded in UTF-16 (LE) - organized into bracketed sections followed by event names and specific dates.
Users frequently need to convert .HOL files because the format is entirely proprietary to the Microsoft ecosystem. If you attempt to import a .HOL file into Google Calendar or Apple Calendar, the process will fail. Modern calendar applications require universal formats like ICS (iCalendar). Additionally, because .HOL files are strictly list-based, they do not support advanced calendar features like time zones, recurring events, or detailed descriptions.
The best target format for a .HOL file is ICS, which guarantees compatibility across all major calendar software. Alternatively, converting it to CSV allows for easy manipulation in spreadsheet tools like Microsoft Excel, and converting to TXT ensures universal readability. Note that when converting to ICS, custom Outlook-specific categorization tags might be lost, but the core dates and event titles will remain intact.
This file format is often difficult to convert accurately because generic parsers struggle with the specific bracket-and-comma syntax required by Outlook. Just drag and drop your file onto convert.guru to identify the format, view its internal text structure, and convert it when supported.
Convert.Guru analyzes your HOL file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted TXT, ICS, XML, CSV, HTML, OLM, JMP, RWZ, WSDL, RFA, GDS, SHP and DBC files.
If you want to convert HOL file to ICS, CSV, JSON, XML, YAML, YML, TOML, INI, CFG, CONF, DAT or DB, you can use Microsoft Outlook or similar software from the "Calendar Holiday Data Storage" 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 HOL, try Microsoft Outlook or another comparable tool in the "Calendar Holiday Data 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 HOL converter.