Extract text from SFL2 files
To convert your SFL2 file to another format, you need macOS or other System software.
To convert other file formats to the "macOS Configuration File" file type, you need software like macOS or a similar tool.
The .sfl2 file extension represents a macOS Shared File List (version 2), a system file introduced in newer versions of macOS (High Sierra and later) to replace the older SFL format. These files are generated by the core operating system service LSSharedFileList and are strictly responsible for storing persistent lists of items, such as "Recent Items" in the Finder sidebar, favorite servers, and open/save dialog history. They are typically found deep within the user library at ~/Library/Application Support/com.apple.sharedfilelist/.
The primary technical constraint for users is that .sfl2 files are encoded as Binary Property Lists (Binary Plists). Unlike standard XML plists, this binary format is designed for machine efficiency, not human readability. If you attempt to open an .sfl2 file in a standard text editor like Sublime Text or VS Code, you will encounter unintelligible garbled text. Furthermore, the data inside often contains serialized "bookmarks" (opaque binary blobs pointing to file locations) rather than simple plain-text paths, making manual interpretation difficult even after basic conversion.
To audit your recent file history, debug Finder issues, or inspect these lists, you must convert the file. For readability and editing, the best target format is XML, which expands the binary structure into a nested, human-readable hierarchy. For programmatic analysis, converting to JSON is ideal.
Convert.Guru analyzes your SFL2 file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted DS_STORE, XIP and BUNDLE files.
If you want to convert SFL2 file to MP3, WAV, AAC, FLAC, OGG, WMA, M4A, AIFF, OPUS, ALAC, APE or WV, you can use macOS or similar software from the "Recent Items Tracking" 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 SFL2, try macOS or another comparable tool in the "Recent Items Tracking" 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 SFL2 converter.