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BIN/CUE file format

.bin · .cue  ·  disk image  ·  introduced 1994 by CDRWIN / Goldenhawk

What is a BIN/CUE file?

BIN/CUE is the universal CD image pair: a .bin file containing the raw sector dump and a .cue text file describing the track layout. Originally written by CDRWIN in 1994, it became the de facto exchange format for CD-ROM and CD-DA images and is still the format console emulators expect for PlayStation 1 and Sega Saturn games.

Most readers reach this page after double-clicking a .bin file and finding their operating system unsure what to do with it. The good news: BIN/CUE is a well-understood format with mature tooling on every major platform. It is supported in one click by mainstream archivers on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

How to extract a BIN/CUE file

Opening a .bin file is straightforward on every modern operating system. The exact steps depend on which platform you are on:

On Windows

  1. Locate the .bin file in File Explorer.
  2. Right-click the file. If you have 7-Zip installed, choose 7-Zip → Extract Here. On Windows 11 the built-in extractor handles ZIP, 7z, RAR and several other formats directly through Extract All…
  3. If prompted, pick a destination folder and click Extract.
  4. The extracted files appear in a folder next to the original archive.

On macOS

  1. Find the .bin file in Finder.
  2. Install The Unarchiver from the Mac App Store, or Keka for both creating and extracting.
  3. Right-click the file → Open With → The Unarchiver (or just double-click after Unarchiver is set as the default).
  4. The extracted folder appears next to the archive.

On Linux

  1. Use your file manager: right-click the archive → Extract Here (file-roller on GNOME, Ark on KDE).
  2. On the command line, run one of: 
    7z x archive.bin    # works for almost any format
  3. The files appear in the current directory.

How to create a BIN/CUE file

To pack files into a .bin archive, you typically need an archiver that supports writing this format. Not every tool can create every format — for example, only WinRAR can create real RAR files. The sidebar lists the software known to read and write BIN/CUE.

On the command line, the canonical create command is:

# Use 7-Zip, PeaZip, or the format's reference tool to create .bin files.

If you regularly create archives at scale, a dedicated archive automation suite can wrap this command in scheduled jobs, integrity checks, and offsite replication.

Strengths

  • Open format
  • Preserves audio tracks
  • Universal tool support

Weaknesses and limitations

  • No compression — full CD = 700 MB
  • Two-file pair

Typical use cases

  • PS1 / Saturn / Dreamcast emulation
  • Audio CD backups

Technical details

BIN/CUE uses the None (raw sectors) algorithm and is identified on disk by the magic byte sequence (plain text CUE / raw BIN). The standard MIME type is application/x-cue. The format is an open specification and is free for any use.

Frequently asked questions

Is BIN/CUE safe to open?

Archive files are containers — they are only as safe as what they contain. A .bin from a trusted source is fine; one received from a stranger can hold malicious executables, scripts, or files engineered to exploit bugs in your archiver. Always keep your archiver updated, and never run unknown executables that come out of an archive. A safe workflow is to extract into a sandbox and scan the contents before opening anything.

What is the maximum file size?

Modern implementations support archives in the multi-terabyte range. The practical limit is your filesystem (FAT32 caps at 4 GB; ext4, NTFS, APFS, and exFAT all comfortably handle multi-TB files).

Can I password-protect a BIN/CUE?

Some archivers can wrap BIN/CUE files in an encrypted container, but the format itself does not always include built-in encryption. Check your archiver's documentation.

How does BIN/CUE compare to other formats?

See our format comparison pages such as ZIP vs 7z, ZIP vs RAR, and tar.gz vs tar.xz for side-by-side feature tables.

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