Click the "Select File" button above, and choose your LCK file.
You’ll see a preview, if available.
Click the "Convert file to..." button to extract text information.
Convert LCK to another file type
To convert your LCK file to another format, you need ArchiCAD or other System software.
Convert a file to LCK
To convert other file formats to the "Application Lock File" file type, you need software like ArchiCAD or a similar tool.
About LCK files
A .lck file is primarily a Lock File generated by database management systems, CAD software like Graphisoft ArchiCAD, and virtualization tools like VMware. These files serve as digital padlocks, signaling that a parent file (such as a database or project) is currently in use, thereby preventing simultaneous write access that could corrupt data. Users typically encounter these files when an application crashes or fails to close properly, leaving the .lck file behind and triggering "File is in use" errors upon restart. Since they are often 0-byte placeholders or contain simple text ownership data, they are not intended for viewing. However, the extension is also used by Android Photo Vault apps and the Locker Ransomware to rename or encrypt media files. For standard lock files, the solution is rarely conversion but rather safe removal to restore access to the primary file (e.g., PLN, DB, or VMX). If the file is a locked image from a vault app, converting or renaming it back to JPG or PNG is necessary to view the content.
Convert.Guru analyzes your LCK file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
If you want to convert LCK file to TMP, TEMP, CACHE, LOG, BAK, OLD, NEW, PART, DOWNLOAD, CRDOWNLOAD, LOCK or PID, you can use ArchiCAD or similar software from the "Access Control Lock" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert DEVICE, CACHE, SOCK, SYMLINK, PID, MOUNT, FIFO, LOG, PIPE, TMP, JUNCTION or TEMP files to LCK, try ArchiCAD or another comparable tool in the "Access Control Lock" category.
The LCK Converter Story
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 LCK converter.