Add your XML file
Drop one or more .xml 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.
XML to PO
Restructuring .xml data as .po changes the serialization without touching the values themselves. 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 XML 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 XML data to GNU gettext translation
Restructuring .xml data as .po changes the serialization without touching the values themselves. An .xml file contains Extensible Markup Language: angle-bracketed tags you define yourself, arranged in a strictly nested tree. It is a meta-format — RSS feeds, SVG images, and Office documents are all XML underneath.
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. For this route the practical draw is human-readable and diff-friendly, unlike every XML alternative and untranslated entries degrade to the English source instead of showing a raw key — balanced against keying on source text means an English typo fix invalidates every translation of that string, which is worth knowing before you commit a large batch.
Why convert XML to PO?
The practical trigger for this conversion is usually a mismatch: with .xml, verbose — every element name is written twice. Switching to .po buys you human-readable and diff-friendly, unlike every XML alternative, which is why it is the better fit for translating open-source software, where gettext is effectively the default. Because the conversion runs locally, trying it costs nothing but a few seconds of compute on your own machine.
XML vs PO at a glance
| Aspect | XML data (.xml) | GNU gettext translation (.po) |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | well-formedness is binary: one mismatched tag makes the document invalid, and conforming parsers must reject it | entries are blank-line-separated blocks of msgid and msgstr, each a sequence of C-style quoted strings that concatenate across lines |
| Strongest at | build and platform configuration (Maven POMs, Android manifests) | translating open-source software, where gettext is effectively the default |
| Weak spot | verbose — every element name is written twice | keying on source text means an English typo fix invalidates every translation of that string |
Pick PO as the output
Select .po in the output menu next to each file. The menu only offers targets this engine can genuinely produce, so if PO is selectable, the route is real and validated.
Convert on your device
Press Convert. The restructuring is plain local parsing — your data is never posted to a server for processing.
Verify and download
Each result is signature-checked before the download unlocks, so a failed encode can never masquerade as a valid PO file. Outputs keep the original filename with the .po extension.
XML to PO questions, answered
Will converting XML to PO lose quality?
There is no visual quality to lose — xml is text-oriented and po 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 XML files here?
Yes — the .xml file is processed inside your browser tab and never uploaded. The restructuring is plain local parsing — your data is never posted to a server for processing. Close the tab and the file is gone from memory.
Where will the PO file work?
Gettext runtimes exist for essentially every language, and desktop editors (Poedit, Lokalize, Gtranslator) plus every major translation platform read .po directly. Novus Convert parses the catalog locally, keys entries on msgctxt where present and on msgid otherwise, and converts between it and the other nine localization formats without uploading strings that may not be public yet.
Will the PO file be bigger or smaller than my XML?
It depends on the content: entries are blank-line-separated blocks of msgid and msgstr, each a sequence of C-style quoted strings that concatenate across lines. Convert one representative file first and compare before batch-processing a large set.