Tips
By Roger Fingas
Friday, June 07, 2019, 08:45 am PT (11:45 am ET)
Friday, June 07, 2019, 08:45 am PT (11:45 am ET)
Feb 06, 2013 Hey, I'm trying to open a DMG file on my mac. It's for a VPN so I could use it when I go abroad. Last time I used a VPN on my PC and it worked just fine, but now when I got my mac (which is about a month old as of today.yay!:)) I'm having trouble installing the VPN. I opened a DMG file.
One of the potentially frustrating things about switching back and forth between Mac and Windows PCs can be proprietary formats —a key example being Apple's DMGs (disk images). Here's how to extract content from a DMG in Windows 10.How Do I Open Dmg Files On My Mac Free
The best option, whenever possible, is using 7-Zip. You probably already have it if you're a Windows regular, since it's a free and convenient way of extracting the more universal ZIP format.Once Z-7ip is installed, find the DMG file you want to work with in File Explorer and right-click on it. In this case we're using some of Apple's free system fonts as an example.
Mouse over '7-Zip' in the right-click menu, then select 'Extract Here' or 'Extract files.' That should give a choice of where to send extracted material, though by default the app will create a subfolder in your current File Explorer location. Click 'OK' once you've chosen a place.
There's a good chance you'll have to dive into the new subfolder and run extraction again. With Apple's font DMGs for example, the real meat is buried within an HFS archive, which you'll need 7-Zip for. HFS is a filesystem used exclusively by Macs.
That should be it — you may see a lot of confusing folders and files, but what you want should be buried in there somewhere.
An alternative to 7-Zip is DMG Extractor. Though it's very straightforward we're inclined to recommend using 7-Zip as your first resort, since DMG Extractor has harsh limitations without a paid license. You can't extract more than 5 files from a DMG simultaneously, and it simply won't work with encrypted files or those bigger than 4 gigabytes.
Neither 7-Zip nor DMG Extractor are the ultimate solution, though. There are some DMG files that 7-Zip, nor other alternatives that we've tried will open. For instance, if on the Mac, a end-user license agreement instantly pops up, we've found that most of the time, Windows solutions will choke on these.
File TypeApple Disk Image
![Open Open](/uploads/1/2/6/2/126263448/302236662.jpg)
Developer | Apple |
Popularity | |
Category | Disk Image Files |
Format | Binary |
What is a DMG file?
A DMG file is a mountable disk image used to distribute software to the macOS operating system. The file is typically downloaded from the Internet by a Mac user, then double-clicked to install an application on the computer.
Today, software developers typically build and distribute applications for Mac users as DMG, .APP, or .PKG files. DMG files are especially common since their contents can be verified upon installation to ensure they have not been tampered with and they can also be compressed to reduce the size of the installer.
When a Mac user downloads a DMG file, he can simply double-click it to open it with the DiskImageMounter utility that comes with macOS. When the DMG file is opened, it mounts a virtual disk on the desktop and in an Apple Finder window as if it was a CD or a USB flash drive that was just inserted into the computer.
In the Finder window, the Mac user can double-click the program icon, which is an APP file, to run the app. Or the Mac user can drag the program icon to the 'Applications' folder icon to move it to the 'Applications' directory in macOS.
After the software stored in the DMG file is installed, the DMG file is no longer needed. Therefore, DMG files can be deleted after installing the software.
While DMG files are Mac-specific and not intended for use in Windows, there are several Windows programs that can extract their contents or convert them to other formats. Some programs include 7-Zip, PeaZip, and DMG2IMG.
NOTE: The DMG format replaced the .IMG file format, which was previously used in Mac OS Classic.
Unknown files on your Mac? Try File Viewer.Programs that open DMG files
![How Do I Open Dmg Files On My Mac How Do I Open Dmg Files On My Mac](/uploads/1/2/6/2/126263448/665772903.jpg)
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