What Is a CMBL File?

This is a data file created by Logger Pro

By
Tim Fisher
Photo of Tim Fisher, Lifewire GM and Writer
Tim Fisher
Senior Vice President & Group General Manager, Tech & Sustainability
  • Emporia State University
Tim Fisher has more than 30 years' of professional technology experience. He's been writing about tech for more than two decades and serves as the SVP and General Manager of Lifewire.
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Updated on July 20, 2023

What to Know

  • A CMBL file is a Logger Pro data file.
  • Open one with Logger Pro or a text editor like Notepad++.
  • Convert to PDF, CSV, and other formats with those same programs.

This article explains what a CMBL file is and how to open one on your computer or mobile device.

What Is a CMBL File?

A file with the CMBL file extension is a Logger Pro data file. They're generally used by students to store data collected by science and math experiments, so they could contain videos, spreadsheets, and other analytical information.

CMBL files in Windows 10 that open with Logger Pro

How to Open a CMBL File

CMBL files are XML based, which means any free text editor can be used to view them, like Windows Notepad or a program from our Best Free Text Editors list.

Some web browsers might try to open it as a text file and display it in the browser. If a text editor or web browser displays the file in a strange or unreadable format, Logger Pro can be used instead (a free demo is available).

The free Vernier Graphical Analysis app for iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, and Chromebook can open one, too, but it might not be able to read all the information contained in the file.

If you find that an application on your PC does try to open the file but it's the wrong application or you'd rather have another installed program open it, you can change the default program that opens CMBL files in Windows.

How to Convert a CMBL File

If the file is readable outside of Logger Pro, you can open it in a text editor or maybe even Microsoft Excel, and then save it to a new format.

Excel can also be used to plot information from a CMBL file to a graph without using Logger Pro. This Convert CMBL Into Excel File video is helpful if you're wanting to do that.

Otherwise, I recommend installing the trial version of Logger Pro so you can open the file there to save/export it to a different file type, possibly even to a Logger Lite Document file (.GMBL).

If Logger Pro doesn't let you export CMBL to GMBL, you might be able to import the file into the free Logger Lite program to do the conversion there.

With the Logger Pro trial, you can most likely also "print" the CMBL file to a PDF file if you have a PDF printer installed.

Use the online cmbl2csv converter tool if you want to convert CMBL to CSV.

Still Can't Open It?

If your file doesn't open even after trying the suggestions above, double-check the file extension. You want to make sure your file actually does end with the .CMBL file extension because some files use a similar extension even though they're in a totally different format.

For example, a CML file might look like a CMBL file, but it could actually be a Chemical Markup Language file or CrytoMailer encrypted file. CBL is another example where the file extension is used for COBOL source code files.

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