Extract text from SYM files
To convert your SYM file to another format, you need Radan or other Cad software.
To convert other file formats to the "Sheet Metal Symbol" file type, you need software like Radan or a similar tool.
The .SYM file extension acts as a generic container for "symbol" definitions across vastly different industries, creating significant confusion for users trying to open them. In the engineering world, these files are primarily generated by CAD and automation software like Radan (for sheet metal parts), AutoCAD, or SolidWorks to store reusable graphic elements, geometric tolerances, or electrical schematics. Conversely, in software development, a .SYM file functions as a debug map (e.g., for ELF binaries or Game Boy development), linking variable names to memory addresses.
The primary difficulty with .SYM files is their ambiguity; a file created by InduSoft Web Studio is binary and incompatible with a text-based symbol file from PC|SCHEMATIC. Users often find themselves unable to view the content without the original, expensive proprietary software, or they struggle with binary data when expecting text.
For CAD and graphical symbols, the best conversion target is PDF for easy viewing or DXF for importing into other engineering tools. For developer and configuration-based symbol files (often XML or plain text), converting to TXT or CSV allows for immediate analysis and editing without specialized tools. Archives and legacy users might convert to standard image formats like PNG to preserve visual references.
Convert.Guru analyzes your SYM file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted KICAD_SYM, SYMS, SYMPDF, SWDOC, DXF, PNG, RCM, JPG, EPS, DVP, DBC, DWG and DWF files.
If you want to convert SYM file to DBC, DWG, DXF, DGN, RVT, RFA, SKP, 3DM, STEP, IGES, SAT or X_T, you can use Radan or similar software from the "CAD Symbol Library" 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 SYM, try Radan or another comparable tool in the "CAD Symbol Library" 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 SYM converter.