Extract text from TLK files
To convert your TLK file to another format, you need Neverwinter Nights or other Game software.
To convert other file formats to the "Localization Data" file type, you need software like Neverwinter Nights or a similar tool.
A .TLK file is predominantly a Talk Table file used by the BioWare Aurora, Odyssey, and Eclipse game engines. These files act as indexed databases containing all the text strings for games like Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Dragon Age. Instead of hardcoding text into scripts, the game engine references a specific ID in the .TLK file to display dialogue, item descriptions, and menu text.
The primary problem for modders and translators is that .TLK files are often compiled binary data. If you attempt to open one in a standard text editor like Notepad++, you will likely see unreadable gibberish or mixed formatting characters. To translate content or fix typos, you typically need to convert the file into a human-readable format like XML or CSV, which preserves the String Reference (StrRef) IDs necessary for the game to function. For archival or simple reviewing purposes, converting to TXT is common. A very small minority of these files may be accounting data from the Finnish software Tappio, which requires that specific proprietary software to view properly.
Convert.Guru analyzes your TLK file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted FASTQ, POV and ALN files.
If you want to convert TLK file to EXE, ISO, BIN, CUE, PAK, WAD, PK3, PK4, BSP, MAP, SAV or DAT, you can use Neverwinter Nights or similar software from the "Game Localization Database" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert MOD, BIN, CFG, SCX, DAT, MPQ, LOG, CUE, INI, EXE, SCM or ISO files to TLK, try Neverwinter Nights or another comparable tool in the "Game Localization Database" 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 TLK converter.