How to Use the tracerpt Command in Windows 11 to Parse and Convert Event Trace Logs (ETL) into CSV Reports

When diagnosing low-level performance bottlenecks, kernel driver stalls, application crashes, or boot latency in Windows 11, diagnostic tools like Windows Performance Recorder (WPR), Network Shell (netsh trace), or Reliability Monitor generate binary files with the .etl extension: Event Trace Logs. Because ETL files use an optimized, high-throughput binary format to log millions of kernel events without degrading system performance, they cannot be read with standard text editors or processed in data pipelines.

Windows 11 includes a native command-line parser designed specifically to process these binary archives: tracerpt.exe. Built into System32, tracerpt parses binary ETL trace files, extracts timestamped thread events, correlates process GUIDs, and converts raw trace data into human-readable CSV, XML, or HTML dump reports. This guide covers common commands, syntax parameters, and data extraction workflows.

Launching Elevated Terminal

Because processing system kernel traces frequently involves protected telemetry, launch Terminal as Administrator:

1. Press Win + X and select Terminal (Admin).
2. Ensure your current working directory has write permissions for exported reports.

Core tracerpt Parsing Commands

1. Converting ETL Traces Directly into CSV

To convert a binary network or performance trace (e.g. trace.etl) into an easily analyzable CSV spreadsheet:

tracerpt C:\Logs\trace.etl -of CSV -o C:\Logs\summary.csv

The -of CSV flag specifies the output format, while -o declares the destination output file containing all event records.

2. Generating an Executive Workload Summary Report

If your ETL file is several gigabytes in size, converting every single event line creates massive spreadsheets. To generate a high-level statistical summary table instead:

tracerpt C:\Logs\trace.etl -report C:\Logs\workload_summary.csv -f CSV

This command outputs a consolidated breakdown listing total event counts per Provider GUID, process CPU consumption, and disk I/O frequencies.

3. Parsing Multiple ETL Files Concurrently

When analyzing distributed cluster sessions or circular buffer traces split into multiple chunks:

tracerpt trace01.etl trace02.etl trace03.etl -of CSV -o merged_trace.csv

Interpreting tracerpt CSV Columns

CSV Header Column	Data Type	Diagnostic Significance
Event Name	String	Kernel event identifier (e.g. DiskIo/Read, Process/Start)
Clock-Time	Microsecond timestamp	Enables exact chronological event sequencing
Process ID (PID)	Integer	Identifies the exact executable generating kernel requests
Thread ID (TID)	Integer	Pinpoints worker thread context switching
UserData	String / Hex	Detailed payload parameters (file paths, I/O byte sizes)