Extract text from PS3 executable files (SELF)
To convert SELF Executables to another format, you need PlayStation 3 System Software or other Executable software.
To convert other file formats to the "Game Console Executable" file type, you need software like PlayStation 3 System Software or a similar tool.
The .SELF file format represents a Signed Executable and Linkable Format. Developed by Sony Computer Entertainment, it operates as the main executable file for PlayStation 3 games and system software. It is essentially an encrypted, mathematically signed wrapper around a standard Executable and Linkable Format (ELF) binary.
This format presents significant disadvantages for general computing. It is deeply proprietary, heavily encrypted, and entirely useless natively on a standard Windows or macOS machine without specialized emulation software like RPCS3. You cannot simply double-click it, nor can you convert it into a standard PC executable (EXE) because of massive hardware architecture differences between the PS3's Cell Broadband Engine and standard PC processors.
If you need to work with a .SELF file, the most common conversion target is a decrypted ELF file for modding or reverse engineering. Because it is a closed, proprietary format locked behind cryptographic keys, standard online converters will fail to process it. If our analysis detects a supported underlying or embedded format, viewing or conversion may still be possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your SELF file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
If you want to convert SELF file to , you can use PlayStation 3 System Software or similar software from the "PlayStation 3 Game Executable" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert files to SELF, try PlayStation 3 System Software or another comparable tool in the "PlayStation 3 Game Executable" 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 SELF converter.