Extract text from XCARCHIVE files
To convert your XCARCHIVE file to another format, you need Apple Xcode or other Developer software.
To convert other file formats to the "Xcode Build Archive" file type, you need software like Apple Xcode or a similar tool.
An .xcarchive file is technically a macOS package directory generated by Apple Xcode when a developer selects "Product > Archive." It serves as the staging container for iOS, macOS, watchOS, or tvOS applications before they are distributed.
While .xcarchive files are critical for the App Store submission pipeline, they present significant hurdles outside the Xcode environment. On Windows or Linux, the system sees this "file" simply as a folder containing cryptic subdirectories (like Products/, dSYMs/, and SCMBlueprint/), making it impossible to double-click and "open" in a meaningful way. Even on a Mac, viewing the contents requires right-clicking and selecting "Show Package Contents," which is tedious for quick inspections. Furthermore, these archives can be massive, consuming gigabytes of storage with debug symbols you may not need for simple sharing.
For distribution to testers or ad-hoc installation, you cannot use the archive directly; you must convert (export) it to an IPA (iOS App Store Package) or a signed APP bundle. For debugging analysis, extracting the dSYM files is necessary to symbolicate crash reports. If you simply need to audit the app's metadata, converting the internal binary Info.plist to readable XML or JSON is the most pragmatic workflow.
Convert.Guru analyzes your XCARCHIVE file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted ZIP, PLIST, NIB, STRINGS and IPA files.
If you want to convert XCARCHIVE file to IPA, JS, TS, PY, JAVA, CPP, C, CS, PHP, RB, GO or RS, you can use Apple Xcode or similar software from the "App Store Submission Bundle" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert SH, PY, KT, PS1, SWIFT, LUA, PL, JAVA, SCALA, JS, VBS or TS files to XCARCHIVE, try Apple Xcode or another comparable tool in the "App Store Submission Bundle" 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 XCARCHIVE converter.