Click the "Select File" button above, and choose your VZ file.
You’ll see a preview, if available.
Click the "Convert file to..." button to extract text information.
Convert VZ to another file type
To convert VZ snapshots to another format, you need VZEM or other Disk Image software.
Convert a file to VZ
To convert other file formats to the "Emulator Memory Snapshot" file type, you need software like VZEM or a similar tool.
About VZ files
The .VZ file extension is a non-formal memory snapshot format used to store software, typically BASIC and BINARY programs, for the classic 1980s Dick Smith VZ200 and VZ300 8-bit microcomputers (originally built by Video Technology). Created in 1999 by the retro-computing community, it acts as a digital container for data originally distributed on cassette tapes. To run these files, you need dedicated retro software like VZEM or multi-arcade machine emulators like MAME. Because it is an obscure, 30-year-old emulator format, the .VZ file has severe modern disadvantages. It is completely unrecognized by standard operating systems, browsers, or text editors. The structure itself is a direct memory dump of a Z80 processor, meaning it lacks modern metadata headers and relies on informal conventions that sometimes cause compatibility bugs even between different emulator versions. To make the data usable, enthusiasts frequently convert .VZ files to standard WAV audio files. This clever workaround allows the audio data to be played back from a modern laptop directly into the physical cassette port of original VZ200 hardware. Other common conversion targets include standard CAS (cassette images) and DSK (disk images). Because this is a closed, proprietary 8-bit container, standard online converters will fail to process it. Our platform can inspect the file's raw hexadecimal structure to extract any readable strings or underlying data streams, offering a pragmatic workaround for handling obsolete retro formats.
Convert.Guru analyzes your VZ file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
If you want to convert VZ file to , you can use VZEM or similar software from the "Retro Computer Emulator Snapshot" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert files to VZ, try VZEM or another comparable tool in the "Retro Computer Emulator Snapshot" category.
The VZ Converter Story
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 VZ converter.