Extract text from SHG files
To convert your SHG file to another format, you need Microsoft Help Workshop or other Raster Image software.
To convert other file formats to the "Legacy Bitmap with Hotspots" file type, you need software like Microsoft Help Workshop or a similar tool.
SHG files are primarily known as Segmented Hyper-Graphics, a legacy bitmap format created by Microsoft for early Windows Help systems (.HLP). These files function as interactive images, containing a background bitmap overlaid with "hotspots" that trigger links or macros when clicked. Because this format relies on the obsolete WinHelp engine, modern operating systems like Windows 10 and 11 no longer support opening them natively, leaving your data trapped in a "black box" that standard editors like Adobe Photoshop cannot decode.
Another significant variation is the Groovie media file used by Trilobyte in classic games like The 7th Guest. In this context, the file contains proprietary video or animation sequences. Whether you are archiving vintage software manuals or extracting assets from retro games, the proprietary nature of SHG files makes them difficult to view or edit today. To make the visual content usable, the best workflow is to convert these files to standard PNG or JPG images (for help graphics) or MP4 video (for game assets). This ensures the visual data is preserved and accessible in modern web browsers and image viewers.
Convert.Guru analyzes your SHG file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted HLP files.
If you want to convert SHG file to CSV, JSON, XML, YAML, YML, TOML, INI, CFG, CONF, DAT, DB or SQL, you can use Microsoft Help Workshop or similar software from the "Interactive Help Graphic" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert DBF, XML, SQLITE, XLSX, SQL, TSV, ACCDB, YAML, MDB, CSV, ODS or JSON files to SHG, try Microsoft Help Workshop or another comparable tool in the "Interactive Help Graphic" 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 SHG converter.