This wikiHow teaches you how to open a disc image (.img) file on a Windows or MacOS computer. The.img file is a file system image. You can load it as a drive or open it through an application like WinZip.
Step
Method 1 of 4: Loading Files As Drive (Windows)
Step 1. Press Win+E
A Windows File Explorer window will open afterwards.
Step 2. Open the folder containing the.img file
Step 3. Double-click the.img file
Windows will load the.img file as a disc and display its contents.
- To copy the contents of an.img file to another folder on your computer, drag the contents to the desired location or directory.
- Once done, remove the loaded.img drive. To unmount it, scroll down in the left pane of File Explorer, right-click the.img “drive” that is currently loading, and click “ Eject ”.
Method 2 of 4: Extracting Files Via WinZip (Windows)
Step 1. Open the WinZip program on the computer
Usually you can find this application in the “ All Apps ” in the “Start” menu.
If you don't have WinZip installed on your computer, you can download it for free from https://www.winzip.com/win/en/.
Step 2. Click the “Open” icon
It's the blue open folder icon in the upper-left corner of the WinZip window.
Step 3. Select Disk images (*.img, *.iso, *.vhd, *.vmdk) from the drop-down menu
It's in the lower-right corner of the window.
Step 4. Visit the folder that created the.img file
Step 5. Select the.img file and click Open
A confirmation message will be displayed after that.
Step 6. Click Yes, unzip the files to (folder name)
The contents of the.img file will be extracted to the specified destination folder (a new folder is created in the.img file storage folder).
Step 7. Press Win+E
A File Explorer window will open afterwards.
Step 8. Browse to the folder where the.img file is stored
A new folder (with the file name.img) will appear in that folder.
Step 9. Double click the new folder
The contents of the.img file will now be displayed. You can double-click an existing file to open it in the appropriate application.
Method 3 of 4: Loading Files As Drive (MacOS)
Step 1. Open Finder
This icon appears in the Dock which is usually at the bottom of the screen.
Step 2. Open the folder containing the.img file
Step 3. Double-click the.img file
The file will be loaded as a drive (displayed on the desktop). After that, a window containing the contents of the.img file will also be opened.
- To copy the contents of an.img file to another folder on your computer, simply drag the contents to the desired destination directory.
- Once done, remove the.img drive. To unmount a drive, visit the desktop, then drag the new drive (the.img drive) onto the “Eject” icon at the bottom of the screen (usually where the “Trash” icon is located).
Method 4 of 4: Using Other Methods on Win7 with WinRAR
Step 1. Open WinRAR (or any other file that can be opened via WinRAR)
Step 2. Browse to the desired.img file
Step 3. Right-click the file, then select "Show archive contents"
- Now you can open the contents in the.img file.
- To copy the contents of an.img file to another folder on your computer, simply drag the contents to the desired destination directory.
