Extract text from Windows Firewall policies (WFW)
To convert WFW policies to another format, you need Windows Defender Firewall or other Settings software.
To convert other file formats to the "Windows Policy Export" file type, you need software like Windows Defender Firewall or a similar tool.
A .WFW file stores exported security rules and settings generated by Microsoft Windows Defender Firewall. System administrators typically use these files to back up network security configurations or deploy identical firewall policies across multiple computers in an Active Directory environment.
The main disadvantage of the .WFW format is its proprietary structure. It is heavily tied to the Microsoft Windows ecosystem and acts as a closed configuration container. You cannot simply open a .WFW file in a standard text editor to review the blocked and allowed ports. This makes network auditing frustrating, as you generally have to import the file into a live Windows environment just to read it - a process that carries significant security risks if the file is untrusted.
Administrators frequently seek to convert .WFW files into readable formats like TXT, XML, or CSV to document rules, run compliance audits, or track changes in a version control system. Standard online converters fail at this because they expect universal document structures (like PDF or DOCX) rather than undocumented system-level Microsoft configuration blobs.
This file format is difficult to open or convert outside of its native OS tools. If our analysis detects human-readable strings or supported embedded formats, we can help you extract the raw text data safely without altering your local firewall settings.
Convert.Guru analyzes your WFW file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted TXT, SLDPRT, ANOM, NIP and LANG files.
If you want to convert WFW file to TMP, TEMP, CACHE, LOG, BAK, OLD, NEW, PART, DOWNLOAD, CRDOWNLOAD, LOCK or PID, you can use Windows Defender Firewall or similar software from the "Firewall Rule Configuration Storage" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert DEVICE, CACHE, SOCK, SYMLINK, PID, MOUNT, FIFO, LOG, PIPE, TMP, JUNCTION or TEMP files to WFW, try Windows Defender Firewall or another comparable tool in the "Firewall Rule 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 WFW converter.