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A dmg file extension is used for default disk image format in Mac OS X (macOS) that replaced the older IMG format. It is used much like ISO images on Windows platform.

Jan 17, 2018 How to convert a DMG file to EXE. A DMG file, as I mentioned above, is a folder containing several applications, which create a unit when we open them, so it is not an executable on Mac, therefore, we can not convert a DMG file to EXE Trying to convert a DMG file to an executable is like converting a folder with pictures (for example) into. DMG files are macOS disk image files. They are much like ISO files—their Windows-based counterpart. These disk images normally contain program installation files for macOS apps, but they can also be used to hold compressed files. If it’s an app written for macOS, you obviously won’t be able to install and run the app on Windows.

There is one other file type using
the DMG file extension!

.dmg - Oracle binary format dump data

Software that open dmg file

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DMG file extension- Apple Mac disk image

What is dmg file? How to open dmg files?

File type specification:

dmg file icon:

The dmg file extension is associated with disk image files created for Mac OS X (macOS).

The DMG file format is used for mountable disk images, which can be opened (mounted) with the Finder a default file manager included in OS X (macOS).The dmg files can also be mounted in most popular emulation utilities.

The dmg file type is a replacement for the older IMG format used in Mac OS Classic and is not compatible with Mac OS 9 or earlier.

Apple DMG format is one of the most used format to install new applications to the Mac OS X (macOS).

By default, Apple Disk Image DMG file uses Universal Disk Image Format (UDIF) to store data, but it can use another file systems, like HFS, HFS+, FAT, UDF, or old New Disk Image Format (NDIF) compatible with Mac OS 9. This feature facilitates for example creation of hybrid optical media with multiple file systems for various platforms.

It can be protected by password (AES-128, or AES-256 encryption) as well as compressed by some compression formats (ADC, Zlib, bzip2).

DMG MIME type:
application/x-apple-diskimage

Updated: November 8, 2019

The default software associated to open dmg file:

Company or developer:
Igor Pavlov

A free file archiver developed by Igor Pavlov featuring higher compression ratios with LZMA and LZMA2 compression.

It is mainly available for Windows platform (for Mac and Linux are available command line tools) and is the primary program to handle 7z archives. However, also supports various compression file formats.

Supported formats:

Packing / unpacking: 7z, XZ, BZIP2, GZIP, TAR, ZIP and WIM

Unpacking only: AR, ARJ, CAB, CHM, CPIO, CramFS, DMG, EXT, FAT, GPT, HFS, IHEX, ISO, LZH, LZMA, MBR, MSI, NSIS, NTFS, QCOW2, RAR, RPM, SquashFS, UDF, UEFI, VDI, VHD, VMDK, WIM, XAR and Z

Company or developer:
CrystalIdea Software Inc.

AnyToISO is disk image converting tool. It is able to extract and convert variety of popular disk image formats, such as NRG, MDF, UIF, DMG, BIN, DAA to ISO disk image format. It is available in ten languages.

Company or developer:
Apple, Inc.

A disk utility distributed with Mac OS X / macOS operating system, Apple Disk Utility offers tool for configuration and format of new disk partitions, mount disk images, create, burn, or convert disk images.

Company or developer:
Apple, Inc.

Finder is the native file management utility in macOS (OS X) operating system. With Finder you can browse your computer directory structure, search files, work with files, do basic file/folder operations (copy, paste, remove, delete, rename etc.), mount disk images, connect to other computers on network, burn files etc.

Company or developer:
Apple, Inc.

macOS is Unix-based desktop operating system, a successor of Mac OS X system for MacBook-family, iMac, Mac Mini and Mac Pro computers, developed and sold by Apple, Inc.

Company or developer:
Apple, Inc.

OS X or Mac OS X is Unix-based operating system developed by Apple Inc. for Macintosh computers. It contains basic core applications for everyday use, such as Finder basic file manager, Safari for Internet browsing, QuickTime for video, iTunes for managing audio data and iPod, iOS devices management , iMessage instant messaging, Mail, Contacts, Calendar and many more.

The latest version 10.11 of OS X is called El Capitan. It is available to purchase on Mac App Store as well as is distributed with new Mac computers and notebooks. It includes features to improve the security, performance, design and usability.

OS X operating system was replaced by new macOS in 2016!

Company or developer:
Kelley Computing

FreeDMG is utility used to create Apple DMG disk images. With this software it is possible to quickly perform disk imaging on the fly. Both the program's window, and the dock icon can be used for drag-and-drop imaging.

Related articles:

Help how to open:

On Mac you can open/mount DMG images in all related programs, because it' native Mac format.
Apple Disk Images are also open-able in various apps in Microsoft Windows, like 7-zip, PeaZip, DMGExtractor, etc., but apps (*.app files) stored in them cannot be run, because they are written for OS X (macOS) system. Documents, pictures, videos and multimedia files can be opened in compatible Windows apps.

How to convert:

You can use ISOBuster for a conversion .dmg disk images to another disk image file format like NRG Nero disk image format or ISO disk image format.
You can use PeaZip to a conversion of DMG format to another archive file format. PeaZip also supports extraction of DMG format. Extracted files can be compressed in to another archive file format, that PeaZip supports (7Z, ARC, BZ2, GZ, PAQ/ZPAQ, PEA, QUAD/BALZ, TAR, UPX, ZIP).

Find conversions from dmg file:

Find converter to dmg file type:

File identification strings:

HEX code: 78
ASCII code: x

List of software applications associated to the .dmg file extension

Recommended software programs are sorted by OS platform (Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android etc.)
and possible program actions that can be done with the file: like open dmg file, edit dmg file, convert dmg file, view dmg file, play dmg file etc. (if exist software for corresponding action in File-Extensions.org's database).

Hint:
Click on the tab below to simply browse between the application actions, to quickly get a list of recommended software, which is able to perform the specified software action, such as opening, editing or converting dmg files.

Software that open dmg file - Apple Mac disk image

Programs supporting the exension dmg on the main platforms Windows, Mac, Linux or mobile. Click on the link to get more information about listed programs for open dmg file action.

Microsoft Windows:

Main software associated with dmg file by default:
7-zip
Other suggested software:
gBurner
DMGExtractor
PeaZip
HFSExplorer
TransMac
PowerISO
PCDmg

Apple macOS / Mac OS X:

Main software associated with dmg file by default:
Apple Disk Utility
Apple Finder
Other suggested software:
DropDMG
DAEMON Tools for Mac

In computing world, DMG or (Disk Image File) is a file extension that belongs to Mac OS X. DMG file can also be termed as Apple Disk Image. The icon used equivalent to this file is an Internal Hard-drive. Disk Images are generally used worldwide in-order to distribute applications and software across the Internet. DMG file provides some attractive features that allow securing password along with file compression.
These virtual or physical Apple disks can be cloned from one to another. This is one of the powerful features of Mac.

Tip: If you want to open and view DMG files of Apple Mac OS X so, you can try DMG Viewer tool.

Why DMG Files Are Created?

Earlier, Mac applications made use of Resource fork. These are the part of file system on Mac Operating System, which consists of both the structured data and non-structured data. Mac could not transfer these Resource forks over the mixed networks. Hence, the usage of Resource fork dwindled and this was the reason that Apple created disk image formats(DMG). The Resource forks are very important as they contain Meta data regarding the file.

Mounting and Dismounting on Mac OS

It is equivalent to plugging in a removable drive, where E drive is automatically created and while removing one chooses ‘Safely Remove Device’. Similarly, you have to eject the Mac drive for both the virtual and physical.
Two Disk Formats supported are:

• NDIF
  This was previously used as the default format of Mac, also known as New Disk Format. These files generally have an .img file extension.
• UDIF
  The native disk format of Apple Mac DMG file is UDIF (Universal Disk Image Format) with a file extension of .dmg.

MIME Type of DMG File:
application/x-apple-diskimage.

Supported File Systems

• Hierarchical File System (HFS) – This was developed by Apple Inc. for the systems supporting Mac OS. Earlier, these file systems were used in floppy disks and hard disks but later were used to read CD-ROM as well. It is known as Mac OS Standard.
• HFS Plus – It was developed after HFS, which is an extension of the same. It is known as Mac OS Extended.
• File Allocation Table (FAT) – It is a file system generally compatible with all file systems and helps in exchange of data between systems.
• ISO9960 – This is also a file system which was issued by ISO (International Organization for Standard) supporting various OS and helps in exchange of data.
• Universal Disk Format –This is a file system usually used to store broadcast media like DVD and optical disk formats.

How to Open DMG Files?

In Mac:

• When you download a Disk image, all the applications in it must be copied to the Application files, because many of these files will be in read-only format. Running these files inside the drives may produce some erroneous results.
• Double clicking the DMG File will open the file and you can view the contents in it. It might be images, documents, programs, etc.
• The DMG File consists of an application file. You can simply drag and drop to install them. If there is a possibility of having an installer, you can run these files instead of installing.
• Right-click on the File >> “Eject” (click on virtual disk instead of, original file)
  Delete the old DMG Files after installing. The reason is old files may take more space when we install new programs.

Resize DMG Files

What Is Dmg File Extension Mac Air

• Right click DMG File >> Click Get Info (View the original size).
• Open Disk Utility >>Select Images Tab>Click on Resize>>Select the DMG file to be resized.
• Click on Open >>Type the file size to be reduced>>Select Resize>>Done

In Windows:
Originally, DMG files are the default Disk Image file for Mac. Hence, they can be opened only on Mac OS.
Since there are no manual methods available to view the DMG Files in Windows, users can install external third-party software available online on Internet. DMG Viewer is one of the tools from such category.
The software provides you with the following features:

• Open DMG File in Windows OS based machine
• Read: Corrupt, Password Protected & Encrypted DMG
• Recover permanently deleted files from DMG
• Search a specific file type in large DMG Format Files

What Is Dmg File Format

Conclusion

What Is Dmg File Extension Mac Os

Considering the ongoing necessity to view DMG files, we have described a manual process to let the users understand how to open & view DMG files. Else, users can take the help of a reliable third-party tool named as DMG Viewer. It is the best application that helps to read .dmg files in Windows OS. Users can use any approach as per their choice.