Extract text from WinBox session files (VIW)
To convert VIW sessions to another format, you need MikroTik WinBox or other Settings software.
To convert other file formats to the "Application Configuration File" file type, you need software like MikroTik WinBox or a similar tool.
A .viw file is primarily a saved session or configuration file used by MikroTik WinBox, a popular graphical utility for managing MikroTik RouterOS devices. These files store connection parameters, dashboard layouts, window placements, and sometimes cached credentials. Alternatively, the .viw format is utilized by RealVNC VNC Viewer to save remote desktop connection sessions, or MikroTik The Dude for network map layouts.
The primary disadvantage of the .viw format is its proprietary, closed nature. These files cannot be natively opened, audited, or edited in standard web browsers or text editors. If you need to migrate configurations to a different management system, audit your stored connection data, or share a router setup, the .viw file acts as a locked black box. It heavily relies on the exact software version that originally created it.
Converting a .viw file to open formats like TXT, XML, or JSON is the best solution for documentation and backup purposes. Standard online converters fail to process this file because it is a closed, proprietary binary format that requires specific decryption or parsing logic tied to the original application. If our analysis detects a supported underlying or embedded format, viewing or conversion may still be possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your VIW file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted CDB, WBX, CFG, VMT, PCG and EPB files.
If you want to convert VIW file to CSV, JSON, XML, YAML, YML, TOML, INI, CFG, CONF, DAT, DB or SQL, you can use MikroTik WinBox or similar software from the "Session Configuration Storage" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert DBF, XML, SQLITE, XLSX, SQL, TSV, ACCDB, YAML, MDB, CSV, ODS or JSON files to VIW, try MikroTik WinBox or another comparable tool in the "Session Configuration 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 VIW converter.