Click the "Select File" button above, and choose your MO file.
You’ll see a preview, if available.
Click the "Convert file to..." button to extract text information.
Convert MO to another file type
To convert MO Translations to another format, you need Poedit or other Developer software.
Convert a file to MO
To convert other file formats to the "Localization File" file type, you need software like Poedit or a similar tool.
About MO files
The .MO file extension primarily represents a Machine Object file used by the GNU gettext system. These files store binary data containing compiled software translations. Developers use them to serve localized text strings in software applications quickly and efficiently. The main disadvantage of a .MO file is its binary nature. Unlike its human-readable counterpart, the PO (Portable Object) file, .MO files cannot be opened or edited in a standard text editor. Attempting to open one in Notepad or TextEdit will result in garbled text. They are strictly optimized for fast machine reading, making them difficult to modify or review directly. To edit translations, users must decompile the .MO file back into a PO file. Secondary targets include CSV or TXT for spreadsheet review. Reversing the compilation process can sometimes lead to minor losses in original formatting or comments if the compiling software stripped them out. Because they are binary, standard online converters often fail to process .MO files correctly. Additionally, some .MO files might be proprietary guitar effect presets for MOOER Audio devices, further complicating identification.
Convert.Guru analyzes your MO file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
If you want to convert MO file to GO, PO, JS, TS, PY, JAVA, CPP, C, CS, PHP, RB or RS, you can use Poedit or similar software from the "Compiled Software Translation" 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 MO, try Poedit or another comparable tool in the "Compiled Software Translation" category.
The MO 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 MO converter.