The Language File Converter is a free tool that converts a linguistic file from one format into another. An Apple .strings file can become an Android .xml file, a Gettext .po file can become JSON, a .resx file can become YAML, and so on.

It is a standalone tool: it does not touch your projects, and it needs no account. Point your browser at converter.webtranslateit.com, upload a file, choose the format you want out of it, and download the result.

It is the right tool for a one-off migration — moving a legacy file into the format your new platform expects, or producing a copy of a file for a team that works in a different toolchain. For an ongoing need, don’t convert files by hand: put them in a WebTranslateIt project and let the File Manager hold the same content in as many formats as you need.

Limits#

Uploads are limited to 12 MB. Files above that need to be split, or handled in a project instead.

Conversion is a format translation, not a semantic one. Where the source format supports something the target format has no equivalent for — plural forms, comments, nested structures — that information cannot survive the round trip. Check the output before you ship it.

Converting over HTTP#

The converter is also reachable programmatically, which is useful in a build script or a migration job. Two endpoints do the same work, differing only in how you hand over the file.

Neither endpoint requires authentication.

From a URL#

GET https://converter.webtranslateit.com/convert [GET]

Supply either file_url or file.

curl -o strings.xml \
  "https://converter.webtranslateit.com/convert?convert_to=AndroidXml2&file_url=https://example.com/en.strings"

By uploading a file#

POST https://converter.webtranslateit.com/converter [POST]

curl -o Localizable.strings \
  -F convert_to=Strings \
  -F file=@values/strings.xml \
  https://converter.webtranslateit.com/converter

Responses#

On success, both endpoints return the converted file as a download. The filename is your original filename with the extension swapped for the target format’s.

You do not tell the converter what format the input is — that is detected from the file itself.

If convert_to is not a format the converter knows, it responds 404 Not Found with a JSON body:

{
  "error": "Converter Foo doesn’t exist",
  "request": "https://converter.webtranslateit.com/convert?convert_to=Foo"
}

Available Formats#

Use the value in the first column as convert_to.

Apple .strings output is encoded as UTF-16LE, as the format expects.

Each of these formats is described in more detail under Supported File Formats.

Next Up: API. This document describes the resources that make up the WebTranslateIt API… »