Free online TMP to TXT converter

A program may leave a document in a .tmp file when it crashes, autosaves, or exports an unfinished copy, while another application requires ordinary .txt input. Converting it can make recoverable plain text easier to edit, share, search, or archive.

What the TMP format is

.tmp is a generic temporary-file extension, not one standardized document format. Word processors, text editors, email clients, installers, and recovery tools may create TMP files for autosaves, caches, drafts, or working copies.

A TMP file may contain readable character data, formatted document data, XML, or an incomplete internal file. Its filename alone does not identify the encoding or the application that created it. The original program, file location, creation time, and nearby files are usually the best clues.

What the TXT format is

.txt stores unformatted character data without fonts, page layout, images, tables, comments, or embedded objects. It is supported by Notepad, TextEdit, Linux text editors, command-line tools, scripts, databases, and most document-management systems.

TXT is useful when a recipient needs searchable or machine-readable content rather than document styling. UTF-8 is the safest general-purpose encoding because it supports accented characters and many writing systems.

How to convert TMP to TXT

When the TMP file already contains plain text

1. Make a copy of the TMP file and keep the original unchanged.
2. Open the copy in a text editor such as Notepad++, Visual Studio Code, TextEdit, or a Linux editor. If it displays readable paragraphs rather than binary symbols, it may be plain text.
3. Use File → Save As, enter a filename ending in .txt, select UTF-8 when an encoding option is available, and save.
4. Reopen the resulting TXT file and check accented characters, line breaks, and the beginning and end of the content.

If the contents are known to be plain text but use a different encoding, convert them with an encoding-aware tool such as iconv -f WINDOWS-1252 -t UTF-8 input.tmp > output.txt. Replace WINDOWS-1252 with the actual source encoding; guessing incorrectly can corrupt characters.

When the TMP file belongs to a document application

1. Identify the application that created the file from its folder, filename pattern, or recovery dialog.
2. Open the copy in that application. For a Microsoft Word or LibreOffice recovery file, use the program's document-recovery or open dialog rather than forcing a generic text editor.
3. After the document opens, choose File → Save As or File → Export, select Text (.txt), choose UTF-8 if offered, and save.
4. Inspect the TXT output because conversion removes formatting and may change tables, columns, headers, footers, and paragraph breaks.

You can also try the free converter on 101convert.com without installing software. It can convert the file only when the TMP content is recognized as a supported document; an unknown or damaged temporary file may require the original application.

Quality and compatibility limitations

Renaming document.tmp to document.txt changes only the extension; it does not convert the underlying data. Use renaming only when inspection confirms that the file already consists of plain text.

Temporary files are often incomplete, locked, or deleted automatically when the parent application closes. A recovered file may contain only part of the document, and binary or proprietary data may appear as unreadable characters in a text editor. If the file is important, recover it through the creating application before attempting export.

TXT cannot preserve formatting, images, formulas, tracked changes, or reliable table structure. For multilingual documents, verify that the selected encoding is UTF-8 and that the target program interprets line endings correctly.