Extract text from Keyboard layout files (KLC)
To convert KLC Layout files to another format, you need Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator or other Settings software.
To convert other file formats to the "Keyboard Layout Source" file type, you need software like Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator or a similar tool.
The .klc file is a source file that stores mapping data linking physical keyboard keys to specific Unicode characters. Developers and power users create these files to build custom keyboards for specialized languages, symbols, or accessibility needs. You can open and edit this file using Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator (MSKLC).
The .klc format has severe limitations. It is proprietary to the Windows ecosystem and relies on legacy software that lacks modern updates, causing compilation errors on operating systems like Windows 11. It does not work natively on macOS or Linux. Users often need to convert these files to extract the mapping data or migrate it to cross-platform environments.
The most practical target formats are plain text like TXT or CSV to read the raw Unicode mappings, or XML for porting to macOS custom keyboard tools like Ukelele.
Because .klc is a highly specialized configuration file intended specifically to compile Windows DLLs, standard online converters fail to process it. Often, only the original software can properly read or compile the data into a working keyboard. If our analysis detects a supported underlying text structure, you can inspect the internal content and extract the character mappings directly from your browser.
Convert.Guru analyzes your KLC file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
If you want to convert KLC file to INI, CFG, CONF, CONFIG, JSON, XML, YAML, YML, TOML, ENV, PROPERTIES or RC, you can use Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator or similar software from the "Keyboard Layout Configuration" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert ZSHRC, CONF, RCFILE, GITCONFIG, RC, PLIST, BASHRC, CONFIG, PROFILE, INI, PREFS or CFG files to KLC, try Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator or another comparable tool in the "Keyboard Layout Configuration" 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 KLC converter.