ghacks Technology News

How to open .lit files

I recently came upon a .lit file and was puzzled at first because I did not have any application installed on my system that could read and display the .lit file properly. A web search told me that it was a format for the Microsoft Reader, an e-book reader for Mobile PCs with another edition available for notebooks and desktop PCs.

The .lit file extension stands for literature and it seems to be rather common on Windows Mobile devices. Since I never have owned one it was completely unknown to me. Microsoft Reader is an old program, last updated in 2005, that is available for several languages and operating systems.

The PC version comes with an optional Text to Speech module which reads the texts out loud if so desired. It is possible to convert .lit files to open standard files by using a program called Convert Lit which is available for Windows, Linux and Mac.

Enjoyed the article?: Then sign-up for our free newsletter or RSS feed to kick off your day with the latest technology news and tips, or share the article with your friends and contacts on Facebook or Twitter.

Related Articles:

Windows 7: Download WinHlp32.exe to Open Help (hlp) Files
How do I open docx files ?
Preview and open Self-Extracting Archive Files with Bandizip
Open and edit PDF files in OpenOffice
Copy Locked And Open Files In Windows



About the Author:Martin Brinkmann is a journalist from Germany who founded Ghacks Technology News Back in 2005. He is passionate about all things tech and knows the Internet and computers like the back of his hand. You can follow Martin on Facebook or Twitter.

Author: , Sunday March 9, 2008 -
Tags:, ,


Responses so far:

  1. Dante says:

    Cool. I’ve downloaded a copy just in case I need it in the future. I currently read hundreds of “free” ebooks right off of the Usenet on my PDA phone. Very convenient.

  2. Vivek says:

    I always found reading a book on Mircosoft Reader to be a better experience than Adobe PDF

  3. Cynthia B. Demented says:

    What program can I use if I’m on Mac OSX?

  4. Stephanie says:

    HELP!

    I downloaded some .lit files along with microsoft reader and after slogging through the ‘activation’ of said reader, it was unable to read the files. I next downloaded a Coverter which again was unable to convert the files. Why?

  5. Martin says:

    Stephanie maybe it is not a real lit file but another file type that has been renamed.

  6. Anonymous says:

    thank you very much! you made my day!

  7. Wraith says:

    Try changing the filenames to .txt or .html, and the like, Stephanie. Martin is probably right, someone who didn’t know what they were doing probably changed the filenames.

  8. D. Spaten says:

    Heya. Just had to do a search for this file suffix, then I remembered I’d worked with these before. IF the .lit files are giving you issues, there’s a brilliant freeware converter called “ABC Amber LIT converter.” Very fast and pretty user-friendly, and it can translate the .lit files to pretty well anything you need. (.pdf, .doc, .txt, and several others.)

  9. sagar says:

    thanks for “microsft reader”.
    now i read them

  10. wyatt says:

    HELP! I have an ebook in .LIT format. I would like to transfer this file to my itouch/ipod in order to take it with me so i can read it on this device. How can I convert it? or transfer it? or whatever?? lol.

  11. James says:

    How can i read an lit file plssssssssss

  12. ipsita says:

    thanks!!
    that ws sm help..
    how i ws eager to open that file!!

  13. wency cortez says:

    Thanks a lot for this information… It was really helpful especially for me who is not that computer literate.

  14. St4inl3s5 says:

    To Martin: fanx man
    To those who still can’t access your .lit files after reading through…go get a good education!!!

  15. marhabu says:

    you can use open source calibre ebook management software to view lit files.

  16. marhabu says:

    Sorry for double post. It seems like Calibre wont automatically associate lit files with its self-contained ebook viewer.In this case, you can add lit files to your library and then click view in the toolbar on top or right click menu option to open them.
    Calibre is available on Linux and Windows but I am not sure about OSX.

  17. svfx says:

    Cannot express my gratitude fully to Martin and everyone who has posted a comment. I tried the convert lit program at first but it was too confusing. In the end, I downloaded calibre and followed Marhabu’s instructions. Worked like a charm. Cheers once again!!!

  18. mitch says:

    Does anyone know how to transfer the files so that they are readable on a sony reader? I donwloaded Microsoft Reader to my PC, and I cant seem to figure out how to transfer them to my device.

  19. Felicia says:

    download this first OK
    http://www.microsoft.com/reader/downloads/pc.aspx
    after that you can read the e-book
    goodluck!

  20. Sophia says:

    very helpful
    thank you very much

Leave a Reply   Follow Ghacks   Subscribe To Comment Rss

Subscribe without commenting

© 2005-2012 Ghacks.net. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - About Us