SA Converter

Extract text from SA files

Select File
Drop or upload your .SA file

Online File Converter

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How to extract text from your SA file

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

Convert SA to another file type

To convert your SA file to another format, you need Sysstat or other System software.

Convert a file to SA

To convert other file formats to the "Activity Monitoring Log" file type, you need software like Sysstat or a similar tool.

About SA files

The .SA file extension represents two distinct but critical formats that users frequently need to decode.

1. Linux System Activity Data (Primary)

Most commonly, an .SA file is a binary data log generated by the Sysstat utilities on Unix and Linux systems. These files (e.g., sa15, sa21) are stored in /var/log/sa/ and contain historical performance metrics like CPU load, memory usage, and I/O statistics.

The Problem: The file is binary and cannot be read by text editors like Notepad or Vim. Users often try to open them directly, resulting in garbled text.
The Solution: These must be "converted" to human-readable formats (TXT, CSV, JSON) using the standard sar command-line tool. For example, exporting to a CSV allows administrators to visualize server health in Microsoft Excel.

2. Xiaomi hidden Image (Consumer)

For mobile users, an .SA file is often a photo or video hidden in a Xiaomi device's "Private Album." When a user hides a file in MIUI, the system encrypts it and changes the extension to .SA (or sometimes LSA).

The Problem: If you transfer these files to a PC or recover them after a crash, they remain encrypted. Standard image viewers like Windows Photos cannot open them.
The Solution: The only reliable conversion method is restoring the file within the Xiaomi gallery app using the original security pattern. Third-party decryption scripts exist but require the specific device encryption key.

3. Security Warning

In rare cases (approx. 2%), .SA files may be data encrypted by variants of the STOP/Djvu ransomware family. If your documents suddenly renamed to .SA and won't open, do not pay the ransom; verify the file header immediately.

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

Users also converted LSA, SAV, LSAV, IMG, JPG, CDR, BIN, PDF, TXT, NOMEDIA, SPV, DTA and YDD files.

FAQ

If you want to convert SA file to SAR, MP3, WAV, AAC, FLAC, OGG, WMA, M4A, AIFF, OPUS, ALAC or APE, you can use Sysstat or similar software from the "System Performance Log" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….

To convert MIDI, AAC, TTA, AU, WV, DTS, MID, FLAC, RA, MP3, PCM or WAV files to SA, try Sysstat or another comparable tool in the "System Performance Log" category.

The SA 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 SA converter.