Extract text from GTK+ loader files (LOADERS)
To convert LOADERS loader files to another format, you need GTK or other Settings software.
To convert other file formats to the "System Configuration File" file type, you need software like GTK or a similar tool.
The .loaders file is a configuration and module cache used primarily by GTK (specifically the gdk-pixbuf library). It tells the system which dynamic libraries (so on Linux, dll on Windows) to use when opening different image formats like PNG or JPG.
Typically, this file is automatically generated by the system and can be opened with code editors like Notepad++ or VS Code. It is built using the gdk-pixbuf-query-loaders command-line utility.
Users often struggle with .loaders files because they are highly environment-specific. They contain absolute, hardcoded system paths. Moving a .loaders file from one machine to another breaks the file paths, causing graphical applications to fail when loading interface icons or images. It is not a document, which means standard online converters fail to process it.
If you need to analyze or share the file's data, the best target format is TXT or CSV. This allows you to safely read the MIME-type to plugin mappings without triggering system execution.
Because this file is a specialized system configuration, it is difficult to open or convert with standard office tools.
Convert.Guru analyzes your LOADERS file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
If you want to convert LOADERS file to , you can use GTK or similar software from the "Module Cache Configuration" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert files to LOADERS, try GTK or another comparable tool in the "Module Cache 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 LOADERS converter.