How to extract text from your ZL file
- Click the "Select File" button above, and choose your ZL file.
- You’ll see a preview, if available.
- Click the "Convert file to..." button to extract text information.
Convert ZL to another file type
To convert your ZL file to another format, you need 7-Zip or other Compressed software.
- ZL to RON
- ZL to ZIP
- ZL to RAR
- ZL to 7Z
- ZL to TAR
- ZL to GZ
- ZL to BZ2
- ZL to XZ
- ZL to LZMA
- ZL to CAB
- ZL to ACE
- ZL to ARJ
Convert a file to ZL
To convert other file formats to the "Archive / Game Data" file type, you need software like 7-Zip or a similar tool.
- XXE to ZL
- 7Z to ZL
- Z to ZL
- PAK to ZL
- LHA to ZL
- DEB to ZL
- UUE to ZL
- TAR to ZL
- LZH to ZL
- ZIP to ZL
- PKG to ZL
- RAR to ZL
About ZL files
A .ZL file is primarily a Zlib Compressed Data file, a format designed to save disk space using the DEFLATE algorithm. Unlike standard ZIP archives that contain a file catalog (headers, filenames, and folder structures), a .ZL file is often a raw compressed stream or a single file compressed without metadata. This makes them difficult to open with standard Windows tools, which expect the familiar ZIP header. In the context of simulation gaming, .ZL files are specifically used by the Zusi 3 Train Simulator to store compressed timetables and simulation data (often XML-based) to improve load times. Users typically need to convert .ZL files to ZIP or 7Z to extract the contents, or decompressed XML to edit game data. Because these files lack a standard file header, standard archivers may report errors unless forced to read the stream correctly.
Convert.Guru analyzes your ZL file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted ZI_, ZIP, ZI, ZLIB, PERSISTENT, GZIP and RON files.
The ZL Converter Story
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 ZL converter.