Extract text from ICF files
To convert your ICF file to another format, you need Icom Cloning Software or other Settings software.
To convert other file formats to the "Radio Programming File" file type, you need software like Icom Cloning Software or a similar tool.
The .ICF extension is a classic example of a filename collision, most frequently serving as a Radio Configuration File for Icom and TYT transceivers, or less commonly as a proprietary DVR Video Container from IC Realtime and Dahua security systems.
For radio operators, an .ICF file (often called a "codeplug") contains critical frequency data, channel spacing, and repeater offsets. The primary friction here is proprietary lock-in: these files are binary blobs that strictly require specific versions of Icom Cloning Software (e.g., CS-F5061) to open. You cannot simply double-click them in Windows. Users often need to convert these to CSV or XLSX to visualize their channel lineup in a spreadsheet or to PDF for printed reference cards in the field.
In the context of security, the .ICF format is a raw video stream index used by older digital video recorders (DVRs). These files are notoriously stubborn, failing to play in standard media players like VLC Media Player. To verify evidence or share footage, users must convert these proprietary streams to universal formats like MP4 or AVI.
Convert.Guru analyzes your ICF file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted JPG, IFC, ICS, JPEG, LCF, PDF, PNG, GLB, CSV, TXT, MDINFO, RTFD and MDBACKUP files.
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 ICF converter.