Extract text from Trash metadata files (TRASHINFO)
To convert TRASHINFO Metadata files to another format, you need GNOME Files or other System software.
To convert other file formats to the "Trash Metadata File" file type, you need software like GNOME Files or a similar tool.
A .trashinfo file is a plain text metadata file used by Linux desktop environments that follow the FreeDesktop.org Trash specification. Whenever you delete a file on a Linux system, the operating system moves the actual file to a hidden files directory and simultaneously creates a .trashinfo file in an adjacent info directory. This metadata file stores the absolute original path of the deleted item and the exact date and time it was trashed.
You can easily open and read these files using basic text editors like Gedit on Linux or Notepad++ on Windows.
The main disadvantage of the .trashinfo format is the confusion it causes. It does not contain your actual deleted data. Users often find these files on USB drives (inside a hidden .Trash-1000 folder) or recover them using data restoration software, mistakenly believing their lost photos or documents were converted into .trashinfo files. The format is strictly structural and useless for media recovery without the paired file.
While you cannot convert a .trashinfo file back into a photo or video, you can convert it to extract the deletion log. For quick reading or archiving, convert to TXT. For structured data analysis or database imports, convert to JSON or CSV.
Convert.Guru analyzes your TRASHINFO file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted UNKNOWN_75, NAMES, APPLE and DESC files.
If you want to convert TRASHINFO file to SYS, DLL, EXE, DRV, VXD, 386, COM, BAT, CMD, SCR, PIF or LNK, you can use GNOME Files or similar software from the "Deleted File Metadata Storage" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert MSI, EXE, REG, MST, LNK, CAB, CAT, DRV, INF, SYS, MSU or DLL files to TRASHINFO, try GNOME Files or another comparable tool in the "Deleted File Metadata 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 TRASHINFO converter.