Extract text from XyWrite III documents (XY3)
To convert XY3 documents to another format, you need XyWrite or other Text software.
To convert other file formats to the "Legacy Word Processing Document" file type, you need software like XyWrite or a similar tool.
The .XY3 file extension represents a XyWrite III Document. Created by XyQuest in the 1980s, XyWrite was a lightning-fast MS-DOS word processor heavily favored by journalists and the publishing industry. The files contain raw text alongside proprietary formatting markup codes.
Users need to convert .XY3 files because the format is fundamentally obsolete. Modern operating systems cannot run 16-bit DOS applications. To open the file as originally intended, you must manually configure an emulator like DOSBox and run the legacy software. Furthermore, modern word processors like Microsoft Word lack import filters for .XY3. Because of the proprietary markup tags, opening the file in a basic text editor reveals cluttered code wrapped around your text, making it difficult to read.
The best target formats for conversion are TXT (Plain Text) to cleanly preserve the raw text data, RTF (Rich Text Format) to maintain basic text styling, or DOCX for modern editing. Be aware that converting a 30-year-old proprietary file will usually result in the loss of complex formatting, custom margins, and legacy printer commands.
This file format is exceptionally difficult to open or convert because it is a closed, proprietary, and undocumented format. Often only the original software can properly read or export the data. Standard online converters fail to process it because they lack the niche algorithms required to parse XyQuest documents. Even if the file resists full formatting translation, our analysis can usually extract the underlying raw text so your historical data is not lost.
Convert.Guru analyzes your XY3 file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted NOW, XYW and UNX files.
If you want to convert XY3 file to TXT, RTF, DOC, DOCX, ODT, PAGES, TEX, LATEX, MD, MARKDOWN, LOG or NFO, you can use XyWrite or similar software from the "Legacy Document Storage" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert PDF, DOC, ASC, TODO, NFO, MEMO, README, DOCX, JPG, TXT, NOTE or RTF files to XY3, try XyWrite or another comparable tool in the "Legacy Document 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 XY3 converter.