Click the "Select File" button above, and choose your PQ file.
You’ll see a preview, if available.
Click the "Convert file to..." button to extract text information.
Convert PQ to another file type
To convert PQ files to another format, you need Apache Arrow or other Data software.
Convert a file to PQ
To convert other file formats to the "Data Processing File" file type, you need software like Apache Arrow or a similar tool.
About PQ files
The .pq file extension primarily represents an Apache Parquet data file or a Microsoft Power Query M formula script. Apache Parquet is an open-source, column-oriented data file format designed for efficient data storage and retrieval in big data processing frameworks. Alternatively, in the Microsoft ecosystem, .pq files contain M language code used to filter, combine, and mash up data within Power BI or Excel. Less commonly, .pq extensions denote SQLite databases for Zello PTT history or compressed game files. Working with .pq files presents distinct challenges. Parquet files are binary and highly compressed using complex encoding schemes. You cannot simply open them in a standard text editor; doing so reveals unreadable characters. Viewing them natively requires specialized developer environments, Python scripts utilizing Apache Arrow, or heavy data analytics software. Power Query .pq scripts, while text-based, are proprietary and rely on the Microsoft ecosystem to execute properly. Zello history files act as opaque database files requiring specific SQL query tools. To make your data universally accessible, conversion is the most pragmatic approach. For data analysis and sharing, convert Parquet .pq files to CSV or JSON. This guarantees readability in Microsoft Excel and standard web browsers, though it may result in larger file sizes. For Power Query scripts, converting to standard TXT ensures long-term archiving without software dependencies.
Convert.Guru analyzes your PQ file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
If you want to convert PQ file to SDR, CSV or LIST, you can use Apache Arrow or similar software from the "Columnar Data Storage" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert files to PQ, try Apache Arrow or another comparable tool in the "Columnar Data Storage" category.
The PQ 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 PQ converter.