Add your PO file
Drop one or more .po files onto the converter above, or browse for them. They load into browser memory only — nothing is uploaded, so there is no size-based pricing and no server queue.
PO to I18NEXT
Converting a .po font to .i18next repackages the same glyphs and metrics for a different delivery target. Free, private, and validated — the file never leaves your browser.
Private for supported formats — processed in your browser
Runs on your deviceConvert supported files
Drop PO files here
Batch files can each use a different output. Nothing uploads for local conversions.
Working inputs include camera RAW, browser-local audio/video, PDF, CBZ/CBR comics, office documents, ebooks, markup, 3D models, structured text, images, and archives.About converting GNU gettext translation to i18next JSON
Converting a .po font to .i18next repackages the same glyphs and metrics for a different delivery target. A .po file is a GNU gettext Portable Object: a plain-text translation catalog in which each entry pairs a msgid — the original string, which doubles as its own key — with a msgstr holding the translation. It is the format most open-source software is translated in, and it is designed to be readable and diffable in a normal editor.
An i18next resource is the JSON translation file used by the i18next library: nested objects whose leaf values are the translated strings, addressed in code by dotted keys such as nav.settings.title. Because the file is ordinarily just named en.json, Novus Convert identifies it by the .i18next.json suffix so it is not mistaken for arbitrary JSON. For this route the practical draw is plain JSON, so every tool in the JavaScript ecosystem already reads it and nesting keeps large catalogs navigable — balanced against no metadata at all — translators get keys and strings with no context, which is worth knowing before you commit a large batch.
Why convert PO to I18NEXT?
The practical trigger for this conversion is usually a mismatch: with .po, keying on source text means an English typo fix invalidates every translation of that string. Switching to .i18next buys you plain JSON, so every tool in the JavaScript ecosystem already reads it, which is why it is the better fit for localising a React, Vue, Angular or Node application. Because the conversion runs locally, trying it costs nothing but a few seconds of compute on your own machine.
PO vs I18NEXT at a glance
| Aspect | GNU gettext translation (.po) | i18next JSON (.i18next) |
|---|---|---|
| Format type | Text-based — characters and structure, so there is no visual quality loss | Text-based — characters and structure, so there is no visual quality loss |
| How it stores data | entries are blank-line-separated blocks of msgid and msgstr, each a sequence of C-style quoted strings that concatenate across lines | nesting is structural: objects group keys, and lookups use a dotted path with the separator configurable |
| Strongest at | translating open-source software, where gettext is effectively the default | localising a React, Vue, Angular or Node application |
| Weak spot | keying on source text means an English typo fix invalidates every translation of that string | no metadata at all — translators get keys and strings with no context |
| Metadata | identifiers, source strings, translations and context are preserved. Header fields, translator comments, source references and flags such as fuzzy are not carried into formats that have nowhere to put them — converting a reviewed catalog to a mobile resource file loses the review state, not the translations | dotted keys and their translated values are preserved. The format carries no descriptions or notes to lose; plural and context suffixes are treated as ordinary distinct keys, because they are exactly that in the file |
Pick I18NEXT as the output
Select .i18next in the output menu next to each file. The menu only offers targets this engine can genuinely produce, so if I18NEXT is selectable, the route is real and validated.
Convert on your device
Press Convert. The font tables are parsed and rewritten locally with fonteditor-core; glyph outlines, hinting, and kerning survive the trip.
Verify and download
Each result is signature-checked before the download unlocks, so a failed encode can never masquerade as a valid I18NEXT file. Outputs keep the original filename with the .i18next extension.
PO to I18NEXT questions, answered
Will converting PO to I18NEXT lose quality?
There is no visual quality to lose — po is text-oriented and i18next is text-oriented, so the question is structural fidelity. Text, ordering, and basic structure are preserved; complex layout, embedded objects, and styling beyond the target's model are simplified.
Is it private to convert PO files here?
Yes — the .po file is processed inside your browser tab and never uploaded. The font tables are parsed and rewritten locally with fonteditor-core; glyph outlines, hinting, and kerning survive the trip. Close the tab and the file is gone from memory.
Where will the I18NEXT file work?
Universally readable as JSON, and supported natively by i18next and every major translation platform. Novus Convert flattens nested objects into dotted keys locally — matching how the strings are addressed in code — and converts to and from the other localization formats.
Will the I18NEXT file be bigger or smaller than my PO?
It depends on the content: nesting is structural: objects group keys, and lookups use a dotted path with the separator configurable. Convert one representative file first and compare before batch-processing a large set.
What happens to the metadata in my PO file?
In .po, identifiers, source strings, translations and context are preserved. Header fields, translator comments, source references and flags such as fuzzy are not carried into formats that have nowhere to put them — converting a reviewed catalog to a mobile resource file loses the review state, not the translations. Re-encoding through the browser pipeline does not carry embedded metadata into the output, which doubles as a privacy scrub — check the exported file if you specifically need tags preserved.
Can I convert I18NEXT back to PO?
Yes — the reverse route exists as a separate tool. Bear in mind that round-tripping .po → .i18next → .po is not a perfect undo when any lossy step is involved; keep your original if fidelity matters.