SCL Converter

Extract text from SCL files

Select File
Drop or upload your .SCL file

Online File Converter

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How to extract text from your SCL file

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

Convert SCL to another file type

To convert your SCL file to another format, you need Siemens TIA Portal or other Developer software.

Convert a file to SCL

To convert other file formats to the "Automation Source Code" file type, you need software like Siemens TIA Portal or a similar tool.

About SCL files

The .SCL extension is most commonly associated with Structured Control Language, a high-level Pascal-based programming language used to program Siemens SIMATIC programmable logic controllers (PLCs). These files contain the textual source code for complex control algorithms, distinct from graphical logic like Ladder Diagram.

A major problem for engineers is that opening these files typically requires installing the massive, proprietary Siemens TIA Portal or STEP 7 engineering environment, which incurs high licensing costs and consumes significant system resources. Without this specific software, the code logic is inaccessible to project managers, maintenance technicians, or third-party auditors. Furthermore, legacy SCL files may use specific text encodings that display incorrectly in standard text editors.

Another significant use of this extension is for Substation Configuration Language files based on the IEC 61850 standard. These are actually XML files used to describe electrical substation configurations. While technically readable, the raw XML is verbose and difficult for humans to parse quickly.

Best Conversion Targets:

For Documentation & Review: Convert Siemens SCL to PDF. This preserves the code structure in a universally viewable format for sign-offs and manuals without requiring TIA Portal.
For Quick Viewing: Convert to TXT to strip proprietary formatting and view the logic in any lightweight editor like Notepad++.
For Data Interchange: If you have an IEC 61850 SCL file, converting it to JSON or formatted XML makes the data easier to ingest into modern web applications or dashboards.

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

Users also converted SLC, STL, SCZ and TUN files.

FAQ

If you want to convert SCL file to STL, TUN, DWG, DXF, DGN, RVT, RFA, SKP, 3DM, STEP, IGES or SAT, you can use Siemens TIA Portal or similar software from the "PLC Programming Source Code" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….

To convert SLDASM, DGN, PRT, IAM, X_B, CATPRODUCT, SLDPRT, RVT, ASM, DWG, CATPART or DXF files to SCL, try Siemens TIA Portal or another comparable tool in the "PLC Programming Source Code" category.

The SCL 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 SCL converter.