Extract text from language packs (LPU)
To convert LPU packs to another format, you need SDL Passolo or other Developer software.
To convert other file formats to the "Localization Project File" file type, you need software like SDL Passolo or a similar tool.
The .LPU file extension is most commonly associated with Localization Package Unit files, used by SDL Passolo (now part of Trados) for software translation projects. It acts as a specialized container that bundles translatable text strings, translation memories, and interface layout resources so translators can localize software applications. Alternatively, an .LPU file can be a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) compiled project archive used by Axel LogicLab software, which internally relies on standard GZIP compression.
Opening and editing these files natively requires the original software. For translation projects, you need the exact matching version of SDL Passolo. For automation projects, you need the Axel LogicLab suite.
Users often need to convert .LPU files because the format is highly proprietary and extremely restrictive. Passolo files are notoriously sensitive to version incompatibilities - a file created in a newer Passolo edition often cannot be opened in older ones, generating frustrating errors. Furthermore, standard Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) tools and plain text editors cannot read the proprietary database structure, effectively locking translators out of their own data if they lack the right license.
If you need to access the translation strings outside of Passolo, the best conversion targets are standard localization formats like XLIFF, or raw data formats like CSV and TXT. However, converting to these formats strips away the visual context and layout metadata, leaving only the raw text strings. LogicLab archives, on the other hand, should simply be extracted by renaming the extension to GZ and unzipping it, though the internal machine code cannot be easily converted to readable source code.
Because of its closed nature, this file format is exceptionally difficult to process outside its native ecosystem. Standard online converters fail because only the original software can properly parse the embedded binary resources and database schemas to export the data. Just drag and drop your file to identify the format, view it, and convert it when possible. convert.guru can still identify the file format, inspect the file, and show text or internal content. If our analysis detects a supported underlying or embedded format, viewing or conversion may still be possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your LPU file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted TBU, TBALIC400 and TBULIC400 files.
If you want to convert LPU file to CSV, JSON, XML, YAML, YML, TOML, INI, CFG, CONF, DAT, DB or SQL, you can use SDL Passolo or similar software from the "Software Localization 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 LPU, try SDL Passolo or another comparable tool in the "Software Localization 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 LPU converter.