How to Unzip IMG Files in Windows and macOS

Anyone who has ever burned a disc is probably familiar with most disk image file formats. IMG is one of them and they are commonly used to compress programs, such as operating systems, software or video games.

What is an IMG file?

Files with the .img extension are typically bitmap files that contain image data. The image contained in an IMG file can be a graphic bitmap or a disk image. IMG files contain the specific contents of a drive, so they are compatible with specific programs that are suited to detecting their file system.

When an IMG file contains a disk image, it can be used to play the media content on the disc on your computer without needing a physical copy of the disc, just like an ISO file. For example, an IMG file can allow you to play a game on your computer without having the actual game disc on your hard drive when you play it.

During the years when floppy disks were used for data storage and management, these files were developed to access raw images of disk drives. Many programs have come into existence using IMG files. They are created by disk imaging programs. In Windows operating system programs, a software writer is used to process these files.

The role of IMG files

IMG files can serve as an extremely useful backup medium, especially if you fear that the original might one day become corrupted, and in many ways they are similar to popular file formats like ISO or BIN.

Finally, you can also use the IMG file as a mountable disk image, which is extremely useful if you have an ultra-thin laptop that doesn't come with a built-in optical drive.

However, there will be times when you don't want to mount the file but just want to unzip it to view the file's contents.

If so, consider this step-by-step guide to help you achieve this quickly and easily.

Unzip IMG files on Windows using third-party unzip tools

Whenever dealing with compressed file formats or disk images, the first thought is automatically to go to the decompression tool.

While Windows 10 is capable of mounting IMG image files, it cannot unpack them, so third-party tools are your only option.

The article recommends you to try WinZip as it is one of the best programs of its kind in the world.

What makes this program especially useful is its ability to handle popular file formats. This means that WinZip can not only unpack IMG files, but can also handle quite a few other image and archive file formats.

Here's how you can use WinZip to extract IMG files easily:

1. Download and install WinZip .

2. Click Start , type winzip and launch WinZip when it appears in the results

3. Go to File and select Open.

4. Double-click the IMG file. You need to set up your system to associate the IMG file format with WinZip for this feature to work.

5. Select the files in the IMG image you want to extract or press Ctrl + A to select all.

6. Select the location where you want to extract the data and click Unzip.

7. Wait for WinZip to complete the extraction process.

Now that you have successfully extracted the contents of the IMG file, all you need to do is go to the extraction location and check if everything is okay.

Note : While there are other third-party tools that can unzip IMG files, we recommend using WinZip because of its fast unzipping speed and the wide variety of file formats it supports.

Unzip IMG files on Mac

Mount disk image

1. Open Finder.
2. Navigate to the folder containing the IMG file.
3. Double-click the IMG file to mount it as a virtual hard drive.
4. Drag the content from the IMG file to the desired location.
5. Unmount IMG file

By following these steps, you can easily extract the contents of an IMG file on your Mac.

Please share your method of extracting IMG files in the comments section below. Good luck!

See also:

• How to quickly decompress .tar.gz files on Windows 10