Free online LST to TXT converter

A receiving program, script, or device may accept only a .txt filename even when the source .lst file already contains readable text. Saving a copy as TXT can also simplify editing, searching, sharing, and archiving, but changing the extension cannot decode a proprietary or binary file.

What the LST format is

.lst is a shared extension, not one universal file specification. In the text-files context, it commonly identifies file lists, source-code or compiler listings, directory inventories, search results, logs, playlists, reports, and line-oriented records produced by development, cataloging, scientific, engineering, or other specialized software.

Many LST files contain ordinary characters separated by line breaks, but the producing program may define its own headers, delimiters, columns, encoding, or control information. Open a copy in Notepad++, Visual Studio Code, or another text editor. Readable lines indicate a text-based file; binary-looking symbols, a format error, or missing content means the creating application should open and export it.

What the TXT format is

.txt denotes general plain text supported by operating systems, editors, scripts, import tools, email software, and document-management systems. It stores characters and line breaks without page layout, fonts, images, formulas, or application-specific rich formatting.

TXT is useful when a recipient needs a broadly compatible file for viewing, editing, searching, command-line processing, or archiving. It can use different encodings, including UTF-8, UTF-16, Windows-1252, and other legacy code pages, so the correct encoding is required to preserve accented characters, non-Latin scripts, and symbols.

How to convert a text-based LST file

1. Keep an untouched backup of the original file.
2. Open a copy in Notepad++, Visual Studio Code, or another plain-text editor. Check that the lines, columns, delimiters, and special characters are readable.
3. Choose File → Save As, enter a filename ending in .txt, select the required encoding, and save. Use UTF-8 when the receiving program supports it and the source is correctly decoded; preserve the source encoding when an older program requires it.
4. Reopen the saved file and inspect the beginning, middle, and end, including any non-ASCII characters.

If the LST file is already plain text and no encoding or content change is needed, renaming or byte-copying is sufficient. In Windows File Explorer, enable View → Show → File name extensions, then rename report.lst to report.txt and confirm the change. The visible extension must actually change; otherwise the result may be report.txt.lst.

Using the online converter

You can convert a suitable LST file for free on 101convert.com without installing software:

1. Open the LST-to-TXT conversion page on 101convert.com.
2. Upload a copy of the .lst file.
3. Start the conversion and download the resulting .txt file.
4. Check the output for readable characters, complete lines, correct delimiters, and the expected file ending.

An online converter cannot reliably interpret every application-specific or binary LST variant. Do not upload confidential logs, credentials, source code, regulated data, or other sensitive files unless the applicable data-handling requirements permit it.

Command-line and script options

For an unchanged byte-for-byte copy on Windows, use Command Prompt:

copy /b report.lst report.txt

On macOS or Linux, use:

cp report.lst report.txt

These commands change the filename while preserving the original bytes, encoding, and line endings. For repeated conversions, Python can perform the same operation:

from pathlib import Path

source = Path("input.lst")
target = source.with_suffix(".txt")
target.write_bytes(source.read_bytes())

To decode and rewrite known text as UTF-8, specify the actual source encoding:

from pathlib import Path

text = Path("input.lst").read_text(encoding="utf-8")
Path("output.txt").write_text(text, encoding="utf-8", newline="")

Decoding with the wrong encoding can replace or corrupt characters. Rewriting can also change line endings and, depending on the tool, add or remove an encoding marker.

When the LST file is proprietary

Open the file in the program that created it and use a command such as File → Export, File → Save As, or Report → Export → Text/ASCII. Select TXT, ASCII, or UTF-8 when available. If the program cannot export TXT, export to a documented intermediate format such as CSV or XML, then convert or reformat that output only if the receiving program accepts plain text.

Renaming or byte-copying does not translate an application-specific structure into a new layout. If the destination expects one record per line, tab-separated fields, a particular header, or a specific delimiter, inspect and reformat the content before saving.

Quality and compatibility checks

• Check for replacement characters such as �, unexpected symbols, truncated lines, altered columns, missing delimiters, and unexpected blank lines.
• Preserve the required encoding, delimiter, final newline, and CRLF or LF line-ending style. Older systems may require ASCII or a local code page instead of UTF-8.
• TXT cannot retain rich formatting, images, formulas, calculated values, embedded metadata, database relationships, or other structures that are not represented as ordinary characters.
• For critical files, compare line counts after a text rewrite. When an unchanged copy was intended, compare checksums or file hashes before deleting the original.