Convert GIS project files (PRJ) online for free
The converter easily converts your PRJ project files to various formats - free and online. No ArcGIS or other GIS software needed.
To convert other file formats to the "Shapefile Projection Component" file type, you need software like ArcGIS or a similar tool.
The .PRJ file extension is notoriously fragmented. Its most common incarnation is a GIS Projection Definition File, used alongside Esri Shapefiles to mathematically define a map's coordinate system. Without this file, mapping software like ArcGIS or QGIS cannot correctly align spatial data on Earth. However, .PRJ is also heavily used as a generic project file by entirely unrelated software, including MATLAB (where it acts as an XML file), PAD System garment design, Ifolor Designer photo books (which uses a ZIP structure), and legacy databases like dBASE.
The main disadvantage of .PRJ files is this extreme ambiguity. Because any developer can use the "Project" abbreviation, you cannot know what is inside a .PRJ file just by looking at the extension. If you attempt to open a CAD assembly .PRJ in a GIS program, the application will crash or throw an error. Furthermore, project files usually do not contain the actual media or 3D data. They act as master pointer files referencing external assets, making them virtually useless if shared over email without their accompanying data folders.
To safely inspect an unknown .PRJ file, you need to convert it to a readable format based on its underlying digital signature. For GIS files, convert to TXT or WKT (Well-Known Text) to extract the projection parameters. If it is an XML-based project, convert to XML or JSON for code review. If it is a compressed archive project, extract it to ZIP. Drop your file here to analyze and convert it securely right in your browser - free, online, and without installing heavy software.
Use Convert.Guru to open and convert your PRJ file.
Users also converted CPG, SHP, DBF, SHX, SBN, SBX, ZIP, ECW, EWW, PDF, PVPRJ, SEEPRJ and PRJPCB files.
If you want to convert PRJ file to PDF, KML, DWG, DXF, JPG, SHP, WKT, CSV, JSON, XML, YAML or YML, you can use ArcGIS or similar software from the "Map Projection & Project File" 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 PRJ, try ArcGIS or another comparable tool in the "Map Projection & Project File" 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 PRJ converter.