Extract text from CAD drawings and archives (MBA)
To convert MBA files to another format, you need Allplan or other Cad software.
To convert other file formats to the "CAD Drawing File" file type, you need software like Allplan or a similar tool.
MBA files are predominantly proprietary CAD drawing files created by the architectural software Nemetschek Allplan. These files store intricate 2D architectural designs, 3D Building Information Modeling (BIM) data, and project macros used by civil engineers and architects. Less frequently, the .MBA extension is used as a Mail Box Archive by the legacy email client MailNavigator, a secure Martus Bulletin Archive by Benetech, or an activity file for Inclusive Technology's MyBoard.
Users frequently encounter massive roadblocks when trying to handle .MBA files. As a heavily proprietary CAD format, it is completely inaccessible without an expensive, active subscription to Allplan. The files are not supported by standard web browsers, document viewers, or even other industry-standard CAD programs like AutoCAD. Furthermore, CAD models often exceed 100MB, making them difficult to share or upload without compression. If your file is a MailNavigator archive, modern email clients will reject it natively.
To make these files usable, you must convert them. For Allplan CAD drawings, the best conversion targets are standard exchange formats like DWG, DXF, or IFC for editing, or PDF for simple viewing and printing. Be aware that converting a proprietary BIM model to a generic format often strips out dynamic parametric data and layer history. If dealing with an email archive, convert the .MBA to EML or PST.
This file format is notoriously difficult to open or convert because its binary architecture is closed-source. Often, only the original software can properly parse the internal structures or export the data accurately. Standard online converters typically fail because they lack the proprietary rendering engines required to interpret Allplan's specific geometric algorithms. However, convert.guru provides a pragmatic workaround. Just drag and drop your file to identify the format, view it, and convert it when possible. We analyze the file's raw internal content, and if our engine detects an embedded text structure, a standard database schema, or a known sub-format, viewing or conversion may still be possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your MBA file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted BAR and PSI files.
If you want to convert MBA file to BAR, PSI, BASE64, HEX, BIN, ENC, CRYPT, AES, DES, RSA, PGP or GPG, you can use Allplan or similar software from the "Architectural CAD Drawing Storage" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert CER, BIN, PEM, DER, KEY, P7S, PFX, ENC, P12, BASE64, P7B or HEX files to MBA, try Allplan or another comparable tool in the "Architectural CAD Drawing 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 MBA converter.