Extract text from Psion databases (W3)
To convert W3 databases to another format, you need Wavemetrics Igor Pro or other Database software.
To convert other file formats to the "Application Database File" file type, you need software like Wavemetrics Igor Pro or a similar tool.
The .w3 file extension represents multiple distinct, highly specialized data formats. Historically, it is most recognized as a Series 3 Database file used by Psion Ltd for their legacy handheld PDAs. In the scientific community, it functions as a Nonlinear optics modeling data file for SNLO software or a Weather data file for Wavemetrics Igor Pro. Additionally, it serves as an application data file for e-Sword Bible Software and occasionally as a generic Windows INI file.
These formats share a common disadvantage: they are highly proprietary, undocumented, or tied to obsolete hardware. The Psion database format is completely unsupported by modern operating systems, often requiring virtual machines or emulators to access. Scientific data locked in .w3 binary files cannot be easily analyzed in Python or Excel without native export features. Furthermore, e-Sword application files are closed-source, making third-party editing difficult without specialized database tools.
Users typically want to convert .w3 files to universal formats like CSV, TXT, or XML to recover legacy contacts, read scientific modeling parameters, or extract text. However, standard online converters fail to process .w3 because the internal structure heavily depends on which of the specific programs created it. There is no universal decoder for these files.
Just drag and drop your .w3 file into convert.guru to identify its true format, inspect the raw internal content, and convert it when possible. Even though it is a closed, proprietary format, our analysis can often extract embedded plain text or identify supported underlying structures, giving you a realistic workaround to access your locked data.
Convert.Guru analyzes your W3 file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted VPW, BOW and KAW files.
If you want to convert W3 file to HTML, HTM, CSS, JS, PHP, ASP, ASPX, JSP, JSPX, PY, RB or PL, you can use Wavemetrics Igor Pro or similar software from the "Database and Scientific Storage" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert RSS, CSS, CGI, SITEMAP, PL, WEBMANIFEST, JSON, JS, XML, HTML, ICO or HTM files to W3, try Wavemetrics Igor Pro or another comparable tool in the "Database and Scientific 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 W3 converter.