What is a CON file?
A .CON file is a multi-purpose file format used for configurations, scripts, and data storage across many different software applications. Because the .CON extension has multiple possible meanings, its exact structure depends on the creator software. Often, a .CON file is a Battlefield 1942 Configuration File created by Electronic Arts or a game engine script for Battlefield 2. It is also commonly a train simulator consist file used by Microsoft Train Simulator.
Other industries use the .CON extension as well. These uses include Dental CAD construction files by Sirona Dental Systems, CNC controller configurations by Autodesk PowerMILL, and even fashion product data files.
How to open CON files?
Opening a .CON file requires knowing its origin. Many game and software configuration files use plain text or UTF-16 formatting. You can open these text-based scripts in simple text editors like Notepad++ or Visual Studio Code. However, if the file contains proprietary CAD data, machine instructions, or binary data, a standard text editor will only show unreadable characters.
Because .CON has multiple possible meanings, we recommend using viewer.online/con to identify the actual format of your file. viewer.online/con can analyze .CON files to identify the exact format and creator software, inspect the file structure, extract readable text, and check whether an online preview is available.
Best practices and file conversion
Always inspect an unknown .CON file before trying to use it in specialized software. If you need to change the file format, we recommend file conversion to sensible target formats on convert.guru. Depending on your specific file type, you can convert text-based scripts to .TXT or .XML. If the file is a data table, it might convert to .CSV.
Summary
viewer.online/con is useful for identifying, inspecting, and understanding .CON files without installing software or dealing with compatibility problems.