Extract text from Workflow import files (VWI)
To convert VWI Workflow imports to another format, you need Microsoft SharePoint Designer or other Developer software.
To convert other file formats to the "Workflow Deployment Archive" file type, you need software like Microsoft SharePoint Designer or a similar tool.
The .VWI file extension primarily represents a Visual Studio Workflow Import package. These files are predominantly used by Microsoft SharePoint Designer and Microsoft Visual Studio to act as transfer containers, moving custom business logic and workflow configurations between development environments and production SharePoint servers. A smaller percentage of .VWI files act as Microsoft Visio Workflow Interchange files, which export visual workflow diagrams to a format SharePoint can execute.
The main disadvantage of the .VWI format is its strict dependency on the Microsoft enterprise ecosystem. You cannot natively open or edit these files without a full SharePoint or Visual Studio environment. They are highly specific, version-dependent, and prone to compatibility errors when migrating between different SharePoint server versions. Furthermore, they offer zero visibility into the underlying code if you lack the correct software stack.
To extract the code and configurations, your best target formats are ZIP and XML. Because the core .VWI file is structurally a standard ZIP compressed archive, standard online converters often fail by treating it as a proprietary binary instead of extracting it. This file format is difficult to convert automatically because it is an assembly of dependent files rather than a flat document. Only the original software can properly deploy the data. Since the file is fundamentally a ZIP package, our analysis can often expose the embedded XML logic, allowing you to extract and review the workflow code without installing massive Microsoft IDEs.
Convert.Guru analyzes your VWI file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
If you want to convert VWI file to ZIP, RAR, 7Z, TAR, GZ, BZ2, XZ, LZMA, CAB, ACE, ARJ or LHA, you can use Microsoft SharePoint Designer or similar software from the "SharePoint Workflow Deployment" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert XXE, 7Z, Z, PAK, LHA, DEB, UUE, TAR, LZH, ZIP, PKG or RAR files to VWI, try Microsoft SharePoint Designer or another comparable tool in the "SharePoint Workflow Deployment" 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 VWI converter.