Import a MapInfo interchange format (.MIF) in ArcGIS 9.x

Summary

Instructions provided outline steps for importing an MapInfo interchange file (.MIF) using ArcGIS 9.x.

Note:
This article applies to retired ArcGIS versions 9.x. Later versions of ArcGIS may contain different functionality, as well as different names and locations for menus, commands and geoprocessing tools.

For instructions for ArcGIS Pro, see: Import a MapInfo Interchange Format file into ArcGIS Pro 

Procedure

1. Start ArcCatalog.
2. Click View > Toolbars > ArcView 8x Tools.
3. Click the Conversion Tools dropdown list and select MIF to Shapefile.
   
4. Browse to an input MIF file and specify the feature type to import. Also specify an output shapefile name.
   
5. Click OK.

   Note:
   Folder names in the path to the input and output datasets are limited to 8 characters. If input or output data are located in a path with folder names longer than 8 characters, the tool fails with the message:
   
   "Error!
   Unable to finish conversion."
   
   The same error message will be returned if more than 32763 nodes per REGION or LINE and 3000 polygons per REGION exist in the input data.