PO Converter

Extract text from PO files


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

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

Convert PO to another file type

To convert your PO file to another format, you need GNU gettext or other Developer software.

Convert a file to PO

To convert other file formats to the "Localization Source File" file type, you need software like GNU gettext or a similar tool.


About PO files

The .PO (Portable Object) file is the industry-standard text-based format for software localization, primarily associated with the GNU gettext system. While these files are technically human-readable plain text containing original strings (msgid) and their translations (msgstr), they present significant challenges for non-technical workflows. .PO files are not directly executable by applications; they must be "compiled" into binary MO files to function. Furthermore, asking translators to edit raw .PO files in a text editor invites syntax errors that can crash applications, and standard word processors like Microsoft Word do not parse the structure correctly. To bridge the gap between developers and translators, users frequently need to convert .PO files. For application deployment, the file must be converted to MO. For professional translation in CAT tools, converting to XLIFF is essential. For simple editing by non-technical staff, converting to CSV or XLSX allows for safe editing in spreadsheets before converting back.

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

Users also converted MO, POT, PPTX, DOCX, CSH, TXT, RBXMX, PDF, ZIP, FLP, TSX, SDOCX and SESSION files.


FAQ

If you want to convert PO file to MO, JS, TS, PY, JAVA, CPP, C, CS, PHP, RB, GO or RS, you can use GNU gettext or similar software from the "Software Localization Catalog" 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 PO, try GNU gettext or another comparable tool in the "Software Localization Catalog" category.



The PO 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 PO converter.