XCHM

Free
Open Source
Windows
Github
Linux
Mac
Ubuntu
Online

XCHM Alternatives

14
Options
Considered
2021-12-02
Last
Updated

#1 ExtraCHM

Free
Open Source
Windows
Online

ExtraCHM is software that allows you to display help files above the regular windows. This is especially useful for applications that need to include an extensive amount of help files with their applications. You can open a CHM file by double-clicking it, or you can drag and drop CHM files onto the application’s icon.

The highlighted function of this platform includes opening CHMs in HTML Viewer mode, not Browser Viewer mode, support for custom themes and backgrounds with the ability to save and load themes and background patterns, showing images in place of text when they are available or requested by the user, special support for help files that include video files like .avi, .mpg, .mov, etc., using different file associations for opening CHMs.

#2 Kchmviewer

Free
Open Source
Linux
Windows
Github
Mac
Online
Portableapps.com

Kchmviewer is an extremely powerful graphical CHM browser written on Qt or KDE. It renders the pages in a way that minimizes distortion, maintaining the layout of the original document. More importantly, it supports all features that are portable between Microsoft’s help viewer and Qt’s, making it very easy to use to browse any kind of help file.

To use the viewer, navigate to a CHM file and click a link inside it or double-click its entry in the main view to open a page in the preview window. The buttons at the bottom of this window enable you to switch between pages and go up and down in pages history. The “Home” button displays an outline of all navigation links on the page. The reader allows you to change the zoom level of the content, and the “Fit” button resizes all content on a page to fit into this window.

#3 Read CHM

Free
Proprietary
Mac
Online

Read CHM is an ultimate software that is introduced to read the CHM document and is compatible with reading files from the phone, SD card, and other devices. It offers a comprehensive user interface with each page being rendered into the native Cocoa presentation stacks where you can scroll, zoom, pinch to zoom, or any other operation that you would expect from a modern graphical user interface

The viewer maintains three different types of pages: details pages, which show additional information about the CHM file; navigation links that allow you to navigate through it; and toolbars, which can be used to execute commands. Each page corresponds to exactly one type of page. For example, the toolbar button “Edit” corresponds to a navigation link in or out of details pages. The viewer also has internal bookmarks called internal bookmarks for navigational purposes. If you right-click any item on the main window, you can invoke an action menu with these “x” items in it.

#4 Chmviewkit

Free
Open Source
Linux
Github
Online

Chmviewkit is one of the modern GTK+/Webkit based CHM viewers that provides you an opportunity to read CHM. files with a single click. The main function of this platform includes the author can change your CHM. files immediately, can create self-extracting HTML Help File, and create multi-language CHM files, make large size CHM pages, modify large size CHM pages, and many others.

The button named “View” displays a window that shows additional information about the CHM file, such as its size and date of last modification. This is the only field that the viewer is capable of filling on its own; it downloads everything else as needed. This can take some time if there are many pages in a CHM file, so by default, only page titles are shown until it finishes loading.

#5 GnoCHM

Free
Open Source
Linux
Github
Online

GnoCHM is a CHM file viewer that is used to open and view CHM files in your system. It supports all popular eBook formats for Linux/Windows systems, including epub, Mobi, fb2, azw3, etc., and read online books from various sources such as Project Gutenberg or Google Books. It displays the contents of CHM files without using Microsoft’s HTML Help Engine, which is a violation of the license agreement for Microsoft Windows and/or the license agreement for Adobe Acrobat Reader.

The program also has some features like compact mode, full-screen mode, and more. It contains a linked database called Database Objects, which holds information about books and other files in a form understandable to a computer. Some of the information contained within a CHM file can be displayed by viewing it in Windows Explorer or Linux’s Nautilus File Manager.

#6 KEL CHM Creator

Free
Proprietary
Windows
Online

KEL CHM Creator is a screened utility for Microsoft Windows users, which has been designed to combine your HTML files into one compact and compressed CHM file or to create self-extracting HTML Help Files. The program uses Microsoft HTML Help Workshop to combine your HTML files into one compact and compressed CDF file or into a self-extracting file that can be run directly from an archive folder without the need for installation on the user’s computer.

The program is easy to use and has an intuitive interface, which makes it possible for you to create a high-quality indexed help file in no time. If you are a webmaster or programmer, you may need to distribute documents on the web. CHM files are one of the most efficient file formats to store great amounts of information. CHMs open quickly and display live links inside, making them more useful than ordinary HTML help that needs to be downloaded first.

#7 Chmox

Free
Open Source
Mac
Github
Online

Chmox is a native Cocoa application to read CHM eBooks that offer a modern user interface with a beautiful, fluid design that seamlessly integrates with the system and keeps track of your position in the eBook without any required interaction. It features bookmarking, full-screen reading, pinch-to-zoom functionality, scroll bars for precise scrolling, as well as text selection and copy/paste support for better integration within other applications on your computer.

Chmox runs seamlessly in the background, completely independent of your user interface. The focus of this platform is on reading eBooks, so there is no need to toggle back and forth between applications to read your book; you can simply read it like you normally would in any other application. It easily integrates wherever you choose to read eBooks, on the web with Safari, in Mail, or even in Preview on an iOS device. Chmox has been designed for optimal reading performance and looks great on Retina displays. It supports both standard and landscape reading modes, making it ideal for use on both your laptop and your desktop.

#8 ChmSee

Free
Open Source
Linux
Github
Online

ChmSee is an HTML help viewer that is specially designed for the Linux-based operating system, enabling the experts to visualize the contents tree if one is available and do the usual history stunts. It is an open-source CHM viewer. It can be used to view CHM files that are either created by the help file builder or downloaded from other sources. It was designed for easier viewing of CHM files with a mouse and without the need to scroll through the text one line at a time.

The main function of this platform includes user can define themes from HTML files that contain CSS definitions, embedded help system with index and table of content, interface customization via skins, transparency setting for windows and dialogs, maximizing windows to the full display area, remembering windows positions and states maximization, interface language setting for menus and labels, text search within the current page or within all pages of a folder, ASCII table rendering as image.

#9 iChm

Free
Proprietary
Mac
Online

iChm is a CHM file reader that lets you read CHM files on your Mac. It includes a user-friendly interface, a bookmarks manager, an outline view, and a search function. A bookmarks manager helps users find their way around the help files. The outline view shows a hierarchical structure of the content of a help file. A search function makes it easy to find texts within help files.

The highlighted function of this platform includes supporting both indexes. bdt and index.thm files, quick navigation using the bookmarks manager, outline view with built-in word wrap, outline colors, and highlighting, search function with built-in search engines for this site, Google, Wikipedia, AltaVista, Yahoo, and many others.

#10 Enolsoft CHM View

Paid
Proprietary
Mac
Windows
iPhone
iPad
Online

Enolsoft CHM View is such a useful utility that helps Mac users to easily and quickly view CHM files on a Mactonish. It is possible with this application to fully enjoy CHM files than ever before. The user for Mac doesn’t need to worry about the file size since it takes up very little space on your device. Apart from these advantages, you are able to view multiple layers of content in the same document.

With Enolsoft CHM View, you can easily search, open, and save the complete document with just a few clicks. It can create a thumbnail index of all HTML files in a folder or any selected folder. The application supports batch conversion of HTML to PDF or Word without losing formatting. You can invoke it from the command line as well as from AppleScript.

#11 CHMPane

Free
Open Source
Github
Linux
Mac
Windows
Online

CHMPane is a Java program to process compiled HTML files. That comes with a function to open, extract and save images from CHM files. It is designed to be easy enough for anyone to run, but it also provides an advanced configuration that can be used when necessary for specific circumstances. On systems with multiple monitors, it may be desirable to use another monitor for the console window. If so, switch off the display of the current console window by clicking on its close button and then start it again.

CHMPane’s configuration options are implemented in an INI file which must be placed in the same directory where CHMPane is started. The user can choose if different settings should then be applied depending on whether or not they are processing a compiled HTML file or a raw HTML document. It can handle binary .jpg images in compiled HTML (.chm) files without them being re-encoded to base64 encoded data. When opening a .chm file that contains .jpg images, they are read directly from the file without being extracted into separate temporary files.

#12 CHM Reader Pro

Paid
Proprietary
Mac
iPhone
iPad
Online

CHM Reader Pro is a feature-rich CHM document or eBook reader that can easily read CHM file and convert it into PDF with a single click. The key feature of this platform includes a search function to find all hyperlinks in the text, covert bookmark, add words to your vocabulary list, test your knowledge with flashcards, create your own learning dictionary with word definitions, synonyms antonyms, and word count statistics.

With the help of its powerful search engine, it lets you search for a help topic without opening the file using the built-in textbox; for example, search ‘cookbook’ in the textbox and click the search button to display all the matches.

#13 WinCHM

Free
Windows

WinCHM is a very easy-to-use and powerful help authoring tool that is used by businesses and individuals to create high-quality technical help topics that deploy to web browsers. It is the perfect choice for companies who want to provide their customers with an online knowledge base for both paid and free products, individuals who want to share their expertise by creating tutorials or manuals, or webmasters looking for a lightweight yet powerful utility.

WinCHM is very easy to learn because all the tools are available right from the start. Just four simple steps are all you need to create your help file content. Once you have finished entering, editing, and formatting your content, it will automatically compile your help file into an easily readable web format that can be used with any browser. Another function of this platform includes adding database definitions to remember what you enter. Database definitions are stored in separate files that make it easy to manage your data.

#14 CHM Editor

Paid
Proprietary
Windows
Online

CHM Editor is a handy editor, which can be used for editing and creating new CHM files in a WYSIWYG interface. You can add images, videos, sounds, hyperlinks, and texts to the content. The program has a built-in text editor with syntax highlighting, which saves you the trouble of installing additional software. It is possible to insert images, videos, sounds, hyperlinks, and texts.

The program can be used either as a stand-alone application or as a library embedded in any other application, such as, e.g., help compiler. It works in multiple progressive steps like clicking on one of the items in the left pane to open a context menu with options, clicking the “Create New File” button, specifying a file name, when asked press OK, creating an empty text area, and insert text by clicking in the editor press CTRL + V.