Extract text from SIM phonebook files (PHN)
To convert PHN Phonebooks to another format, you need HTK or other Data software.
To convert other file formats to the "Speech & Contact Data" file type, you need software like HTK or a similar tool.
The .PHN file extension typically represents one of two distinct data formats. Most commonly, it is a Phonetic Speech Transcription file used by the TIMIT Acoustic-Phonetic Corpus and the Hidden Markov Model Toolkit (HTK). These files contain time-aligned phonetic transcriptions used for training speech recognition algorithms. Alternatively, .PHN files act as SIM Card Phonebook backups generated by Dekart SIM management tools or Chipcardmaster. These files store offline contact data using UTF-16 (LE) text encoding. Finally, a small number of .PHN files are Physics simulation scene files used by the 2D physics sandbox Algodoo.
Users frequently struggle with .PHN files because they are tied to highly specialized, niche software. Phonetic .PHN files are text-based but use strict formatting rules that standard text editors do not parse neatly into tables. SIM phonebook .PHN files use closed, proprietary structures that modern smartphones and cloud services (like Google Contacts or iCloud) refuse to import. You must convert these SIM backups to standard CSV or VCF (vCard) formats to restore the contacts to an Android or iOS device.
Standard online converters fail to process .PHN files because the formats are undocumented and fragmented across completely different industries. Often, only the original software can properly read or export the data without corrupting the contact lists or phonetic timing codes. Our analyzer will identify the exact file version, inspect the internal encoding (such as the UTF-16 LE text in Dekart files), and allow you to extract the raw text data even if a direct file conversion fails.
Convert.Guru analyzes your PHN file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted RAW, PLO and TMS files.
If you want to convert PHN file to EXE, ISO, BIN, CUE, PAK, WAD, PK3, PK4, BSP, MAP, SAV or DAT, you can use HTK or similar software from the "Speech Transcriptions & SIM Phonebooks" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert MOD, BIN, CFG, SCX, DAT, MPQ, LOG, CUE, INI, EXE, SCM or ISO files to PHN, try HTK or another comparable tool in the "Speech Transcriptions & SIM Phonebooks" 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 PHN converter.