Extract text from SQL database files (MDF)
To convert MDF database files to another format, you need Microsoft SQL Server or other Database software.
To convert other file formats to the "Master Database / Disc Image" file type, you need software like Microsoft SQL Server or a similar tool.
The .MDF extension primarily represents two completely different, closed file formats: a Microsoft SQL Server Master Database File and an Alcohol 120% Media Descriptor Disc Image.
As a database, the .MDF file stores the core relational data and schema for Microsoft SQL Server. These files are highly proprietary, intrinsically tied to their companion LDF (Log Database) files, and extremely large, often reaching hundreds of gigabytes. They are impossible to read as plain text and require a running SQL Server instance to access the data. Alternatively, the .MDF extension is used by Alcohol 120% for CD and DVD backups. These disc images bypass standard formats to store raw disc geometry, requiring a companion MDS file and specialized virtual drive software to mount.
Users often need to convert database .MDF files to SQL scripts or CSV to migrate data to open-source systems like PostgreSQL and escape expensive Microsoft licensing fees. For disc images, converting .MDF to standard ISO is critical because modern operating systems can mount ISO natively, eliminating the need for third-party emulators.
Converting .MDF files is notoriously difficult. A raw database file usually cannot be exported unless attached to the original database engine version, while proprietary disc images rely on sub-channel data that generic converters ignore. Despite these severe limits, you can rely on convert.guru as a practical starting point. Just drag and drop your file to identify the format, view it, and convert it when possible. We will inspect the internal hex signatures to determine if you are dealing with a database, a disc image, or even an automotive Measurement Data Format file, and extract whatever embedded text or structure is available.
Convert.Guru analyzes your MDF file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted LDF, MDS, MD, MDB, PDF, ZIP, ISO, MFD, BAK, 7Z, RAR, 45 and MF4 files.
If you want to convert MDF file to ISO, CSV, PDF, SQL, JSON, XML, YAML, YML, TOML, INI, CFG or CONF, you can use Microsoft SQL Server or similar software from the "Database or Disc Image 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 MDF, try Microsoft SQL Server or another comparable tool in the "Database or Disc Image 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 MDF converter.