Extract text from installation files (SIS)
To convert SIS installers to another format, you need Steam or other Compressed software.
To convert other file formats to the "Installation Archive File" file type, you need software like Steam or a similar tool.
The .SIS file extension is most commonly a Symbian OS Application Installer package. These files were historically used to distribute and install software, themes, and games on legacy Nokia smartphones running the Symbian operating system. In modern systems, the .SIS extension is heavily used by the Steam client as a Steam Game Backup Information File, which holds metadata necessary for restoring local game installations. Another niche use case is the Aperio Digital Slide Session File, an XML-based format used by Aperio ImageScope to store medical imaging annotations.
Users struggle with .SIS files because they are tied to obsolete or strictly proprietary ecosystems. Symbian has been dead for over a decade; you cannot run a .SIS file on Android or Windows without specialized emulation. The files are closed, proprietary binary archives. Similarly, Steam backup .SIS files are useless on their own - they require accompanying CSM and SID files to function and cannot be natively unpacked by common archive utilities. This vendor lock-in frustrates users who need to recover game files or extract old mobile assets.
Directly converting a Symbian .SIS app into an Android APK or an iOS app is impossible due to completely different hardware architectures and codebases. The most practical solution is extraction. The best target format for a Symbian installer is a standard ZIP archive, which allows you to access the embedded images, audio files, and scripts. For Aperio image session files, you can safely extract or convert the data to standard XML or TXT.
This file format is exceptionally difficult to open because it relies on undocumented binary structures. Standard online converters almost always fail to unpack them. Often, only the original legacy software or a dedicated unpacker can properly read or export the data. Our tools can inspect the file, bypass the header, and show you internal text or extract embedded media assets without requiring you to install obsolete software.
Convert.Guru analyzes your SIS file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted SISX, ZIP, TXT, JPG, XLSX, CSV, JAR, PDF, PNG, TMP, BIN, TORRENT and BLOB files.
If you want to convert SIS file to JAR, APK, OBJ, FBX, DAE, 3DS, MAX, BLEND, MA, MB, C4D or STL, you can use Steam or similar software from the "Software Installation and Backup Metadata" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert DWG, DAE, X3D, IGES, WRL, JT, SKP, 3DS, 3DM, OBJ, STEP or FBX files to SIS, try Steam or another comparable tool in the "Software Installation and Backup Metadata" 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 SIS converter.