SHK Converter

Extract text from SHK files

Select File
Drop or upload your .SHK file

Online File Converter

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How to extract text from your SHK file

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

Convert SHK to another file type

To convert your SHK file to another format, you need ShrinkIt or other Compressed software.

Convert a file to SHK

To convert other file formats to the "Retro Computing Archive" file type, you need software like ShrinkIt or a similar tool.

About SHK files

The .SHK extension primarily identifies a ShrinkIt archive, the de facto standard compression format for the Apple II computer platform. Developed by Andy Nicholas, these files use NuFX encoding to compress disk images and software collections, similar to how ZIP files function today. Users typically encounter these when restoring vintage software or organizing retro-computing libraries. The major friction point is that modern operating systems and standard tools like 7-Zip or WinRAR cannot read NuFX encoding. To access the contents, you normally need specific retro-utilities like CiderPress or an emulator.

Alternatively, an .SHK file may contain suspension analysis data generated by Performance Trends Shock Dyno software or ShortKeys macro definitions. These are proprietary data files.

Best Conversion Targets:

For Emulation: Convert Apple II archives to DSK or PO disk images.
For Access: Extract contents to standard ZIP or convert internal text to TXT.
For Analysis: If it is a shock data file, converting data points to CSV allows for viewing in spreadsheet software.

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

Users also converted ~SHK, BXY and ZIP files.

FAQ

If you want to convert SHK file to ZIP, RAR, 7Z, TAR, GZ, BZ2, XZ, LZMA, CAB, ACE, ARJ or LHA, you can use ShrinkIt or similar software from the "Apple II Compressed Archive" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….

To convert XXE, 7Z, Z, PAK, LHA, DEB, UUE, TAR, LZH, ZIP, PKG or RAR files to SHK, try ShrinkIt or another comparable tool in the "Apple II Compressed Archive" category.

The SHK 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 SHK converter.