Extract text from Merlin Project documents (MERLIN2)
To convert MERLIN2 documents to another format, you need Merlin Project or other Data software.
To convert other file formats to the "Project Management Document" file type, you need software like Merlin Project or a similar tool.
A .merlin2 file is a legacy project management document created by Merlin 2, a macOS-exclusive software developed by ProjectWizards. It stores project schedules, resource allocations, Gantt charts, dependencies, and financial budgets.
The .merlin2 format is highly proprietary and presents several real-world disadvantages. It requires a macOS environment and specific software licenses to open natively. The format itself is actually a macOS package (a hidden directory disguised as a single file). This means if you transfer a .merlin2 file to a Windows PC or an unsupported cloud drive, it will break apart into a folder containing unreadable raw data like Content.plist. Standard web browsers and general document readers cannot process this format.
To share this data with clients or non-macOS users, you need to convert it to PDF for visual Gantt charts, CSV for tabular task lists, or MPP / XML for Microsoft Project compatibility. Note that custom styling and proprietary formulas are often lost during export.
This file format is difficult to open or convert because it is a complex, closed relational database package. Standard online converters fail because they cannot emulate the internal calculation engine required to plot task dependencies. Often, only the original software can properly read or export the project data. If our analysis detects a supported embedded format like XML inside the bundle, viewing or partial conversion of text data may still be possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your MERLIN2 file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
If you want to convert MERLIN2 file to CSV, JSON, XML, YAML, YML, TOML, INI, CFG, CONF, DAT, DB or SQL, you can use Merlin Project or similar software from the "Project Management 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 MERLIN2, try Merlin Project or another comparable tool in the "Project Management 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 MERLIN2 converter.