Click the "Select File" button above, and choose your MAKEFILE file.
You’ll see a preview, if available.
Click the "Convert file to..." button to extract text information.
Convert MAKEFILE to another file type
To convert your MAKEFILE file to another format, you need GNU Make or other Developer software.
Convert a file to MAKEFILE
To convert other file formats to the "Build Script" file type, you need software like GNU Make or a similar tool.
About MAKEFILE files
A .makefile (often simply named Makefile without an extension) is a text-based build automation script primarily used by the GNU Make utility. These files serve as a set of recipes, instructing the computer on how to compile and link program source code (like C or CPP) into an executable binary. While indispensable for developers, they present significant friction for non-technical users or documentation teams. A major quirk of the format is its strict whitespace sensitivity: Makefiles require hard tabs for indentation, not spaces. Opening and saving a .makefile in a standard word processor like Microsoft Word can silently replace tabs with spaces, rendering the script useless and triggering the infamous "missing separator" error. Furthermore, they are essentially plain text but lack native formatting for readability outside of code editors. To share build logic with stakeholders, archive project specifications, or print documentation without risking syntax corruption, the best workflow is to convert .makefile to PDF or DOCX. For safe code review without an IDE, converting to standard TXT ensures the content remains accessible on any device.
Convert.Guru analyzes your MAKEFILE file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
If you want to convert MAKEFILE file to CMAKE, SLN, JS, TS, PY, JAVA, CPP, C, CS, PHP, RB or GO, you can use GNU Make or similar software from the "Software Build Automation" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert SH, PY, KT, PS1, SWIFT, LUA, PL, JAVA, SCALA, JS, VBS or TS files to MAKEFILE, try GNU Make or another comparable tool in the "Software Build Automation" category.
The MAKEFILE 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 MAKEFILE converter.