Extract text from PWL files
To convert your PWL file to another format, you need Microsoft Windows (Legacy 9x) or other System software.
To convert other file formats to the "Password Management" file type, you need software like Microsoft Windows (Legacy 9x) or a similar tool.
A .PWL file is a legacy Windows Password List generated by operating systems like Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows ME. These files were designed to cache user credentials for network shares, dial-up internet access, and other system resources, allowing users to log in automatically without re-entering passwords.
Because .PWL files are binary and encrypted (often using a now-compromised implementation of the RC4 algorithm), they cannot be opened or read with standard text editors like Notepad or modern versions of Microsoft Word. A common difficulty for users is attempting to recover old passwords from legacy hard drives, only to find these files are inaccessible on Windows 10 or Windows 11. While the files are technically "locked," the security is historically weak, leading many users to seek conversion solutions to extract the hidden credentials.
To access the data inside a .PWL file, the practical goal is not traditional "conversion" but decryption or recovery to a readable TXT format. For archiving or forensic analysis, converting the extracted list into a PDF is also common. Users typically rely on specialized security tools (such as Cain & Abel or ElcomSoft utilities) to decrypt the content and save it as plain text.
Convert.Guru analyzes your PWL file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted PWL1, MSWMM, XLR and UPS files.
If you want to convert PWL file to SYS, DLL, EXE, DRV, VXD, 386, COM, BAT, CMD, SCR, PIF or LNK, you can use Microsoft Windows (Legacy 9x) or similar software from the "Cached Credential Storage" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert MSI, EXE, REG, MST, LNK, CAB, CAT, DRV, INF, SYS, MSU or DLL files to PWL, try Microsoft Windows (Legacy 9x) or another comparable tool in the "Cached Credential Storage" 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 PWL converter.