Your files stay on your Mac.
Man pages store documentation in roff — a markup language packed with macro calls, escape sequences, and formatting directives that most text editors cannot interpret. Converting to Plain Text strips all of that markup and renders the prose content as clean, readable text. The result is a file you can grep, pipe, diff, or open in any editor without a man viewer.
Drag one file or an entire folder of .man or .roff files onto Convertessa. Metadata is stripped during conversion and files never leave your Mac.
Pick Plain Text from the output list. Convertessa renders the roff source into plain prose, removing macro calls and escape sequences while preserving the text content.
Click Convert. Convertessa processes each file locally and writes the .txt output alongside your originals, or to the folder you specify.
Images, audio, video, documents, archives and eBooks — all converted natively, right on your Mac.
Pick a format you have — see everything Convertessa can turn it into.
Convert hundreds of files at once with per-type group defaults and individual overrides.
First-class support for HEIC, AVIF and WebP — encode and decode, both ways. Read JPEG XL and a dozen more modern formats too.
Drop files anywhere on the window. Native, instant, and exactly what you’d expect on a Mac.
Dial in compression, resolution and bitrate. Keep originals pristine or shrink for sharing.
Never overwrite a file by accident. Convertessa appends safe suffixes automatically.
Every job is logged locally. Re-run a previous conversion or revisit recent outputs in a click.
Bundle your converted files straight into a single ZIP, TAR or 7z — packaged and ready to share the moment a job finishes.
Right-click any file in Finder and choose Convert. A Quick Action handles it on the spot — no need to open the app first.
Shrink Convertessa to a tidy mini window that tucks into a corner — just a drop zone and a format picker for quick, one-off conversions.
No cloud. No account. No upload. Every conversion happens entirely on-device, using the power already in your Mac. What you convert is nobody’s business but yours.
Script conversions, wire them into your build, or batch a folder from the terminal. The same engine, no GUI required.
Read the full CLI documentation →Shrink Convertessa down to a small, focused window — drop, convert, done, with your recent conversions one click away.
macOS 14+ · Apple Silicon & Intel
New formats, new features, and fixes — every release, on the record.
No. Convertessa runs entirely offline. Every file is processed on-device and nothing is uploaded to any server.
Yes. Pass a folder path on the command line (convertessa ./man/ --to txt) or drag the folder onto the app window. Convertessa walks the directory and converts every man page it finds.
Convertessa renders the roff source the same way a man viewer would, then discards the formatting layer. Macro calls like .TH, .SH, and inline escapes are resolved and removed, leaving only the readable text content.