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 RESX
Converting a .po font to .resx 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 .NET RESX resources
Converting a .po font to .resx 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.
A .resx file is a .NET XML resource file: a list of named data elements, each holding a value and an optional comment, used for the translatable strings and embedded assets of a .NET application. Visual Studio compiles it into a binary .resources file that is embedded in the assembly. For this route the practical draw is first-class in the .NET toolchain with designer support and compile-time accessors and can carry binary assets alongside strings, keeping a UI's resources together — balanced against extremely verbose — the schema preamble often outweighs the content, which is worth knowing before you commit a large batch.
Why convert PO to RESX?
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 .resx buys you first-class in the .NET toolchain with designer support and compile-time accessors, which is why it is the better fit for localising a WinForms, WPF, ASP.NET or MAUI application. Because the conversion runs locally, trying it costs nothing but a few seconds of compute on your own machine.
PO vs RESX at a glance
| Aspect | GNU gettext translation (.po) | .NET RESX resources (.resx) |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | the document root is a plain <root> element; each entry is a <data name=…> containing <value> and optionally <comment> |
| Strongest at | translating open-source software, where gettext is effectively the default | localising a WinForms, WPF, ASP.NET or MAUI application |
| Weak spot | keying on source text means an English typo fix invalidates every translation of that string | extremely verbose — the schema preamble often outweighs the content |
| 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 | entry names, values and comments are preserved. The schema preamble, resheader declarations and base64 binary resources are not represented in string-catalog targets, and the culture — which lives in the filename — is not part of the document at all |
Pick RESX as the output
Select .resx in the output menu next to each file. The menu only offers targets this engine can genuinely produce, so if RESX 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 RESX file. Outputs keep the original filename with the .resx extension.
PO to RESX questions, answered
Will converting PO to RESX lose quality?
There is no visual quality to lose — po is text-oriented and resx 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 RESX file work?
Visual Studio, Rider and the .NET SDK read RESX natively, and the major translation platforms support it. Anything outside the .NET world generally does not. Novus Convert reads the data/value/comment structure locally, refuses documents declaring a doctype or custom entities, and converts to and from the other localization formats; binary base64 resources are outside the string-catalog model and are not carried across.
Will the RESX file be bigger or smaller than my PO?
It depends on the content: the document root is a plain <root> element; each entry is a <data name=…> containing <value> and optionally <comment>. 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 RESX back to PO?
Yes — the reverse route exists as a separate tool. Bear in mind that round-tripping .po → .resx → .po is not a perfect undo when any lossy step is involved; keep your original if fidelity matters.