Extract text from Tool files (TOOL)
To convert TOOL files to another format, you need Vectric Aspire or other Database software.
To convert other file formats to the "CNC Tool Library" file type, you need software like Vectric Aspire or a similar tool.
The .tool extension is highly fragmented and serves completely different purposes depending on the operating system and industry. In the manufacturing sector, it is predominantly a proprietary Vectric CNC tool database used by Vectric Aspire and VCarve. These binary files store physical cutter geometries, feed rates, spindle speeds, and pass depths. Conversely, in software development, a .tool file is a plain text macOS executable shell script designed to run Bash or Zsh commands natively in the Terminal. Less commonly, it acts as a robot end-effector definition file for RobotStudio and Universal Robots, or as 3D material data in game engines like Ubisoft's Dunia.
Both main variants present distinct challenges. The Vectric CNC database is a closed, proprietary format. It locks your machining parameters into a single ecosystem, meaning you cannot easily read or edit these files without an expensive software license. Standard online converters fail entirely because the binary structure is undocumented and highly specific to Vectric's version releases. The macOS script variant is merely text, but often fails to execute if file permissions are stripped during downloads or email transfers.
If you need to extract data, macOS scripts can be safely renamed to SH or TXT for safe reading. For CNC data, users typically want to convert to CSV for backup, which usually requires exporting directly from within the Vectric interface.
This file format is difficult to open or convert online because often only the original software can properly read or export the structured data. If our analysis detects a supported underlying text-based script or an embedded format, viewing or conversion may still be possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your TOOL file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted CRV3D, 3VS and VTK files.
If you want to convert TOOL file to JS, TS, PY, JAVA, CPP, C, CS, PHP, RB, GO, RS or SWIFT, you can use Vectric Aspire or similar software from the "CNC Tool Database Storage" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert SH, PY, KT, PS1, SWIFT, LUA, PL, JAVA, SCALA, JS, VBS or TS files to TOOL, try Vectric Aspire or another comparable tool in the "CNC Tool Database 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 TOOL converter.