How to Open a DMG File in Windows

Whether you are an avid Mac programmer using a Windows Machine, or if you find a DMG file on your Windows machine, it can be useful to know what it is and how to open it.

What Are DMG Files?

Many people assume that if files appear as unknown files that they are viruses or malicious files, but this is not the case. DMG files are Mac OSX Disk Image files. They are essentially disk images like ISO files, their Windows based counterpart.

These disk images normally contain program installation files for Apple applications, but they can also be used to hold compressed files. Since they are Mac installation files, you cannot install these programs on Windows. You will need to download the Windows version of the program with the EXE extension. It can be useful, however, to get into DMG files in order to access the files they contain.

How to Open DMG Files in Windows Using 7-Zip and DMG Extractor

There are many different tools you can use to extract DMG files in Windows, however, the two most reliable tools we will use today are 7-Zip and DMG Extractor. Both these programs are free to download and use, however, if you a need more powerful DMG editing tool, you can get the paid version of DMG Extractor.

7-Zip

7-Zip is a powerful compression tool that is distributed freely to users. Its installation file is completely free of bloat and crapware. If you do not have 7-zip installed on your computer, you can download it from Ninite and install it on your machine.

Once you have installed the program, simply navigate to the DMG file on your hard drive and right-click on it then select 7-zip and choose the Extract here option.

The program will begin extraction which will go as fast as your computer can manage.

When it is finished, you will see all the files contained in the DMG file in the explorer window where the original DMG file is located.

Now you can feel free to edit or view the files.

DMG Extractor

DMG extractor offers a free version which is great for unzipping DMG files, but if your file is bigger than 4GB, you will need the professional version. The paid version also offers encrypted DMG file extraction capabilities.

Once you have downloaded the free version of the program and installed it, the DMG extraction process is very easy. Simply double-click on the DMG file and wait for DMG Extractor to begin. You will see all the files in the window.

Next, you can choose to extract the files by selecting the “Extract” button or by dragging the files from the DMG window into any folder on your computer.

Select the first extraction option to extract all the files to the folder where the original DMG file is located. Remember that the free version will only allow you to extract 5 files at a time, so you may need to select five files at a time to extract.

Wrapping Up

That is essentially all you need to know when it comes to extracting the contents of DMG files to your Windows PC. If you do not want to download these programs, it is also possible to follow our guide on How to convert DMG files to ISO’s which you can open with programs like Daemon Tools or Magic ISO.