Convert Data tables (TAB) online for free
The converter easily converts your TAB Tables to various formats - free and online. No MapInfo Pro or other Data software needed.
The converter also works in reverse, so you can convert other "Tabular Data File" formats to TAB without using software like MapInfo Pro or a similar tool.
The .TAB extension is highly ambiguous and typically represents one of three distinct formats: Tab-Separated Values (TSV), MapInfo Tables, or Guitar Tablature.
As a standard data format, a .TAB file stores plain text where each field is separated by a tab character. This is heavily used for database exports and generic data interchange. To view these, users typically rely on spreadsheet applications like Microsoft Excel or text editors. Alternatively, in the Geographic Information System (GIS) sector, .TAB acts as the primary format for MapInfo Pro. Here, the file does not hold spatial data directly; instead, it is a structural link file that connects a dataset of related files (such as DAT, MAP, and ID) to form a complete geographic map layer. Finally, musicians use .TAB for ASCII guitar tablature, readable in simple text editors or software like TuxGuitar.
This shared extension causes massive file handling issues. If you double-click a .TAB file, your operating system will often guess the wrong application. Excel might open a MapInfo file as corrupt text. Furthermore, tab-separated text files lack rigid column definitions, meaning Excel sometimes merges columns incorrectly during import. MapInfo .TAB files are fundamentally proprietary and completely useless if separated from their companion files.
Drop your file here to analyze and convert it securely right in your browser. For general tabular data, convert to CSV for maximum compatibility or XLSX for formatted editing. For GIS data, converting a MapInfo workspace to an ESRI Shapefile (SHP) or GeoJSON is critical for use in modern web mapping or QGIS. For guitar tabs, convert to PDF to ensure the monospaced text formatting never breaks during printing.
Use Convert.Guru to open and convert your TAB file.
Users also converted MAP, PAPERTABLE, TAP, RIT, CSV, PDF, RAR, KML, KMZ, DAT, TXT, PTB and TIF files.
If you want to convert TAB file to GEOJSON, MIDI, KML, SHP, KMZ, GPX, TOPOJSON, TIF, TIFF, ECW or SID, you can use MapInfo Pro or similar software from the "Data & GIS Table Storage" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert LAZ, KMZ, DTM, DEM, PRJ, LAS, GPX, DSM, SHP, DBF or KML files to TAB, try MapInfo Pro or another comparable tool in the "Data & GIS Table Storage" 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 TAB converter.