Extract text from Directory queries (QDS)
To convert QDS Queries to another format, you need Microsoft Windows Server or other System software.
To convert other file formats to the "Windows Directory Query File" file type, you need software like Microsoft Windows Server or a similar tool.
A .QDS file is a Windows Directory Query file created by Microsoft Windows. It stores saved search criteria and scope information used to query folders and objects within an Active Directory network. Typically, these files are executed using the Windows Server dsquery tool.
Because .QDS is a proprietary, closed settings format designed specifically for older Windows network environments, it is practically useless on modern non-Windows systems like macOS or Linux. The files cannot be natively viewed or edited without the exact Active Directory environment they were created for. Furthermore, newer Windows versions replaced local query files with the .SEARCH-MS format, making .QDS files a legacy frustration for many IT administrators.
Users often need to extract the underlying query logic into TXT, XML, or CSV to read the search parameters manually or migrate them to a modern scripting language like PowerShell. Note that converting a .QDS file only extracts the query rules, not the actual network search results.
Because .QDS files are highly specialized internal Windows system files, standard online converters fail to process them. Often, only the original Windows Directory Service tools can properly read or execute the data. If our analysis detects a supported underlying or embedded format, viewing or conversion may still be possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your QDS file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
If you want to convert QDS file to TMP, TEMP, CACHE, LOG, BAK, OLD, NEW, PART, DOWNLOAD, CRDOWNLOAD, LOCK or PID, you can use Microsoft Windows Server or similar software from the "Active Directory Search Query" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert DEVICE, CACHE, SOCK, SYMLINK, PID, MOUNT, FIFO, LOG, PIPE, TMP, JUNCTION or TEMP files to QDS, try Microsoft Windows Server or another comparable tool in the "Active Directory Search Query" 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 QDS converter.