How to Open EXE file

Files with the “.exe” extension are called executable files, or EXE files. This is one of the most common file formats on the Windows operating system, they are used to install or run application software. EXE files are also used to package and distribute small scripts or macros because they allow users to compact their work into a single file and compress the space. Opening an EXE file on Windows is quite simple, but opening an EXE on a Mac is a bit more complicated. Alternatively, you can extract the EXE file.

Table of Contents

Open EXE file (Windows)

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Double click on the EXE file to open it. An EXE file is a Windows executable designed to run as a program. Double click on any EXE file to open it.

If you download the EXE file from the internet, you are asked to confirm whether you want to open the file or not. Be wary of opening EXE files from unknown sources as this is a common way of spreading viruses. Never open an EXE file downloaded from an email attachment, even if you know the sender.
EXE files will not open properly if they are designed for older versions of Windows. You can adjust compatibility settings by right-clicking the file, selecting “Properties”, and clicking the Compatibility tab. You can set the version of Windows you want to run the EXE file on, but this is not guaranteed to fix the problem.

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Open Registry Editor (Edit Registry) if the EXE file cannot be run. If there is an error message when you open the EXE file and cannot open the file, it is likely that the Windows registry setting is faulty. Editing the registry can be frustrating, but it only takes a few minutes. ^{[1] X Trusted Source Microsoft Support Go to Source}

To open Registry Editor, press Windows key + R and type regedit .

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Navigate to . HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.exe . Use the navigation bar on the left side of the window to open this category.

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Right click on “(Default)” and select “Modify”. A new window will appear.

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Type . exefile in the “Value data” field. Click OK to save the changes.

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Navigate to . HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTexefile . Use the navigation bar on the left side of the window to open this category.

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Right click on “(Default)” and select “Modify”. A new window will appear.

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Enter . "%1" %* in the “Value data” field. Click the OK button to save the changes.

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Navigate to . KEY_CLASSES_ROOTexefileshellopen . Use the left navigation bar to open this category.

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Right click on “(Default)” and select “Modify”. A new window will appear.

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Enter . "%1" %* in the “Value data” field. Click OK to save the changes.

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Restart the computer. After editing the above 3 items, close the Registry Editor and restart the computer. You can now open the EXE file. You are advised to find out the cause of the problem in the first place. Your machine may be infected with a virus or malware, which will continue to cause the same error in the future. Click on this article to learn how to find and remove viruses.

Open EXE file (OS X)

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Learn the process. EXE files are not designed for OS X, so you need to use special software to run them. You need to install the open source utility “wine” to add a Windows “wrapper” to the EXE file, allowing them to access the Windows file that is important to open the file. The wine utility does not open all Windows EXE files, depending on the file, select the utility. You don’t need a Windows disc to install wine.

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Download and install Xcode from the Mac App Store. This is the essential free development tool for editing software code. You won’t be using it directly, but the tool you will install to open the EXE file depends on it.

Start Xcode after it loads, then click the “Xcode” menu. Select “Preferences” and click the “Downloads” tab. Click the Install button next to “Command Line Tops”.

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Download and install MacPorts. This is a free utility to simplify the editing process, used to build your version of wine. You can download MacPorts from macports.org/install.php . Click on the link that corresponds to the version of OS X you are using, then double-click the .pkg file downloaded to your computer to install MacPorts.

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Open Terminal. You need to use Terminal to adjust MacPorts settings. You can open Terminal in the Utilities folder.

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Copy and paste the following commands. Copy the command into a Terminal window and press the Return key:

 echo export PATH=/opt/local/bin:/opt/local/sbin:$PATH$'n'export MANPATH=/opt/local/man:$MANPATH | sudo tee -a /etc/profile

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Enter the administrator password. You are required to enter the administrator password before running the command. When you type the password, you will see nothing. Press the Return key after typing the password. Without the administrator account’s password, the process will fail.

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Copy and paste the following commands. This is the command that tells MacPorts whether your operating system is 64-bit or not. Paste the following command and press the Return key:

 if [ `sysctl -n hw.cpu64bit_capable` -eq 1 ] ; then echo "+universal" | sudo tee -a /opt/local/etc/macports/variants.conf; else echo "n/a"; fi

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Enter the command to accept the Xcode terms. This quick command notifies Xcode that you have accepted the terms of the program, allowing you to compile the code. Close and reopen the Terminal window after running this command:

sudo xcodebuild -license

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Enter the command to install wine. After reopening the Terminal window, you can proceed to install wine. You may be asked to enter the administrator password. The installation process will take a while. When returning to Terminal input the process is complete:

sudo port install wine

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Navigate to the EXE file location. Use the cd command to navigate to where the EXE file is stored on the Mac. You need to do it through Terminal.

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Use wine to run the EXE file. Enter the following command to open the EXE file stored in the open directory. Replace fileName with the filename:

wine fileName .exe

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Use the program as usual. If the EXE file is a standalone program, you can use it right away. If it is the installation file of a program, you need to perform the installation process like on Windows.

Not all programs work with wine. For a complete list of compatible programs, visit appdb.winehq.org .

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Open the installed program. If you use an EXE file to install the program, you need to use wine to open the installation file.

Type cd ~/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/ to open the Program Files folder and wine is installed.
Type ls for a list of installed programs. Type cd programName to open the program directory. If the program list has space, you need to add before the space. For example, Microsoft Office will become cd Microsoft Office .
Type ls again in the program directory to find the EXE file.
Type wine fileName .exe to open the program.

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Install the Mono library if the program requires .NET. .NET is the software library for many Windows programs, and Mono is the replacement that wine can use. You only install .NET if the program requires it. ^{[2] X Research Source}

Type sudo port install winetricks and press the Return key.
Type winetricks mono210 and press the Return key to install Mono.

Extract the EXE file

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Download and install 7-Zip. 7-Zip is a free, open source archiver program that opens EXE files similar to ZIP or RAR files. The program can extract many EXE files, but not all.

You can download 7-Zip from 7-zip.org .

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Click on the EXE file and choose “7-Zip” → “Open archive”. This is the operation to open the file in the 7-Zip archive window. If you right-click the file and don’t see the 7-Zip option, open 7-Zip in the Start menu and access the EXE file you want to open.

7-Zip cannot open all EXE files. You may receive an error message when opening an EXE file. You can use another decompression program, such as WinRAR, but most likely still won’t open the file because it was edited for the first time.

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Access the file you want to extract. When opening the EXE file in 7-Zip, you are presented with a list of files and folders containing the EXE file. You can double click on the folder to see the files inside. You can select multiple files by holding down the Ctrl key and clicking each file.

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Click the “Extract” button and select the file. You are asked to choose a location, if you leave the default, the file will be extracted to the current location.

Steps

Open EXE file (Windows)

Open EXE file (OS X)

Extract the EXE file

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