Extract text from Primavera project files (XER)
To convert XER project files to another format, you need Primavera P6 or other Data software.
To convert other file formats to the "Project Management Exchange" file type, you need software like Primavera P6 or a similar tool.
The .XER file is a proprietary project scheduling export format used natively by Oracle Primavera P6. It was originally created by Eagle Ray Software Systems, and the extension stands for eXchange Eagle Ray. XER files contain crucial project management data like activities, tasks, resources, and costs, all stored as tab-delimited plain text.
Opening these files natively requires an expensive Oracle Primavera P6 license. While a few third-party XER viewers exist, native compatibility across standard project management tools is poor.
Sharing XER files is notoriously difficult. Non-Oracle products like Microsoft Project cannot open XER files natively. Because the format is highly proprietary, recipients are often forced to buy expensive software or manually parse raw text. Furthermore, the XER format has a major technical disadvantage: it cannot export or include project baselines, meaning critical historical project snapshots are lost during the transfer.
When you need to share Primavera schedules externally, conversion is essential. The best target formats are XML (for importing into MS Project or sending back to P6 with baselines included), XLSX or CSV (for basic spreadsheet analysis), and PDF (for viewing static Gantt charts without specialized software). Be aware that converting to CSV or PDF will flatten the data, losing the dynamic scheduling logic.
XER files are difficult to convert because they rely on complex relational database mapping that only Primavera P6 fully understands. We can safely inspect the file, reveal the internal text-based tables (%T), fields (%F), and records (%R), and extract the readable underlying data even if you lack an Oracle license.
Convert.Guru analyzes your XER file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted PDF, XLSX, MPP, MPX, XML, ZIP, REX, NWD, TMP, XLS, EPW, TXT and RAR files.
If you want to convert XER file to MPP, PDF, XML, CSV, MSP, JSON, YAML, YML, TOML, INI, CFG or CONF, you can use Primavera P6 or similar software from the "Project Schedule Data Exchange" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert DBF, XML, SQLITE, XLSX, SQL, TSV, ACCDB, YAML, MDB, CSV, ODS or JSON files to XER, try Primavera P6 or another comparable tool in the "Project Schedule Data Exchange" 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 XER converter.