Extract text from VMware snapshot files (VMSN)
To convert VMSN snapshot files to another format, you need VMware Workstation or other System software.
To convert other file formats to the "VMware Snapshot State" file type, you need software like VMware Workstation or a similar tool.
The .VMSN file format stores the active execution state (including RAM and CPU registers) of a virtual machine created by VMware Workstation or ESXi. These files are generated alongside a snapshot, allowing administrators and developers to revert a virtual machine exactly to the running state it was in at that specific moment.
A major disadvantage of the .VMSN format is its massive file size. Because it captures active memory, the file will be at least as large as the RAM allocated to the virtual machine (e.g., a VM with 16GB of RAM will produce a 16GB .VMSN file). It is also highly proprietary and intimately tied to the exact hardware configuration and VMware version used.
Users often attempt to convert or extract data from .VMSN files to recover lost files, passwords, or system logs. However, direct conversion to standard formats like ISO, PDF, or ZIP is technically impossible. Standard online converters fail because a .VMSN file consists of raw, unstructured memory data, not standard media or documents.
Because this format is closed and proprietary, only the original VMware software can properly read, resume, or export the data. However, you can drag and drop your file into convert.guru to identify the file format, inspect the binary content, and extract raw text strings. If our analysis detects supported underlying configuration data, viewing limited metadata may still be possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your VMSN file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted XVM, VDMK, VMAC and VMEM files.
If you want to convert VMSN file to VMEM, SYS, DLL, EXE, DRV, VXD, 386, COM, BAT, CMD, SCR or PIF, you can use VMware Workstation or similar software from the "Virtual Machine State Snapshot" 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 VMSN, try VMware Workstation or another comparable tool in the "Virtual Machine State Snapshot" 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 VMSN converter.