How to open MSI file: on Mac, in Android, in Windows 10
Windows applications files often have an .MSI format that is used by Windows Installer software built-in on your operating system to install different apps and programs. If you encounter any difficulties when opening an .MSI file, follow this short guide.
What is an MSI file?
The .MSI extension is the Windows Installer format that helps install applications and programs in the Windows Operating System. An MSI file has all the data needed for installing or updating a Windows app. There are also .MSU files similar to .MSI but used on Windows Vista operating system.
How to open an MSI file in Windows 10?
MSI files can be opened automatically with the Windows Installer program built-in to Windows operating systems. To open an .MSI file, just double-click on it, and the Windows Installer will open it automatically.
How to open an MSI file on Mac?
MSI files are incompatible with the Mac operating system. However, you can still open them. The first and quite cardinal way is to switch completely to Windows OS on your Mac by using Boot Camp Assistant software pre-installed on your Mac.
Otherwise, you can just open MSI files and view their content without installing it on your Mac computer. MSI files are normally packed in zip-archives, so to see them, you will have to unzip them first. You can use unzip-apps such as built-in Archive Utility or download A-Zippr, The Anarchiver or other apps to extract the file.
Right-click on the .MSI file, choose Open With and select your Zip extractor.
Now you can view the content of the folder, but, unfortunately, you can not install it on your Mac computer.
How to open an MSI file in Android?
- Open the File Manager and go to the Downloads folder.
- Find the app and try to open i - if it doesn't work, you will have to download a dedicated app.
- If you can't find an appropriate app, we recommend transferring the file to your PC and opening it from there.
How to open an MSI file on Linux?
First, you should know there is no way to open MSI files directly: for this, you need a specific program called msiexec. Once you have this program installed, you can follow these steps:
- Open the terminal.
- Use cd to change directories and get to the location of the MSI file.
- You can install the file with the command: wine msiexec /i whatever-filename.msi