Extract text from SHX files
To convert your SHX file to another format, you need ArcGIS or other GIS software.
To convert other file formats to the "Positional Index File" file type, you need software like ArcGIS or a similar tool.
The .SHX extension serves two distinct, high-stakes technical roles. Primarily (over 75% of cases), it is a Shapefile Index used by ESRI ArcGIS and open-source tools like QGIS. In this context, the file contains positional offsets for vector data stored in a main SHP file. A common frustration is that users cannot open a GIS .SHX file in isolation; it is strictly a helper file required to navigate the geometry in the partner SHP file efficiently. To make this geospatial data usable on the web or in non-GIS applications, users must convert the entire Shapefile array (including .shp, .shx, and .dbf) into self-contained formats like GeoJSON, KML (for Google Earth), or TopoJSON.
Alternatively, the file may be an AutoCAD Compiled Shape file. Developed by Autodesk, these binary files store compiled line styles or text fonts for engineering drawings. Unlike standard fonts (TrueType or OpenType), .SHX fonts are proprietary and vector-based, often leading to "missing .shx" errors when sharing drawings with users who lack the specific custom font file. Because they are compiled, they cannot be directly edited. Users needing to modify these shapes often seek to decompile them back to ASCII SHP (AutoCAD source format) or convert the font data to standard TTF or OTF formats for broad compatibility across operating systems and design software.
Convert.Guru analyzes your SHX file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted SHP, TTF, CPG, DBF, PRJ, OTF, ZIP, SBX, PDF, SBN, DWG, XML and SH3X files.
If you want to convert SHX file to DWG, TTF, SHP, KMZ, PDF, KML, DXF, DGN, RVT, RFA, SKP or 3DM, you can use ArcGIS or similar software from the "Geospatial Indexing & CAD Fonts" 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 SHX, try ArcGIS or another comparable tool in the "Geospatial Indexing & CAD Fonts" 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 SHX converter.