NAV Converter

Extract text from NAV files


Drop or upload your .NAV file
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How to extract text from your NAV file

  1. Click the "Select File" button above, and choose your NAV file.
  2. You’ll see a preview, if available.
  3. Click the "Convert file to..." button to extract text information.

Convert NAV to another file type

To convert your NAV file to another format, you need Valve Source SDK or other Game software.

Convert a file to NAV

To convert other file formats to the "AI Navigation Mesh" file type, you need software like Valve Source SDK or a similar tool.


About NAV files

The .NAV file extension represents a unique challenge because it serves two completely different but technical communities: gamers and surveyors.

  1. Valve Source Engine Navigation Mesh: Approximately 40% of these files are binary pathfinding databases used by games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Team Fortress 2. These files tell AI bots where they can walk, hide, or jump.

The Problem: These are proprietary binary files tied strictly to a specific BSP map file. Users often encounter errors like "Navigation mesh was built using a different version of the map," rendering the file useless. They cannot be opened in standard text editors, and attempting to edit them manually often corrupts the AI behavior.

The Solution: For analysis, these can be converted to text dumps using Source SDK tools. However, most users simply need to regenerate the file within the game engine.

  1. RINEX Navigation Message File: In the scientific and GIS world, a .NAV file stores GNSS (GPS) orbital data in the Receiver Independent Exchange Format.

The Problem: While text-based, the raw data is cryptic and difficult to visualize without specialized geospatial software. Surveyors often struggle with version compatibility (e.g., RINEX 2.11 vs 3.05).

The Solution: For practical use in mapping applications, these files are best converted to GPX (GPS Exchange Format) or KML for viewing in Google Earth.

  1. DVR/CCTV Metadata: Many digital video recorders create a small .NAV file alongside a video (often DAV or H264). These contain timestamp indexes. Note: This file contains no video; converting it will not produce a playable movie.

Convert.Guru analyzes your NAV file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.

Users also converted BSP, MRK, M4A, ZIP, SMD, SIS and BLOB files.


FAQ

If you want to convert NAV file to CSV, JSON, XML, YAML, YML, TOML, INI, CFG, CONF, DAT, DB or SQL, you can use Valve Source SDK or similar software from the "Game AI Navigation Mesh" 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 NAV, try Valve Source SDK or another comparable tool in the "Game AI Navigation Mesh" category.



The NAV 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 NAV converter.