What are MSI files? How to open MSI files

What are MSI files?

The file with the .MSI extension is the Windows Installer Package file. It is used by some versions of Windows when installing updates from Windows Update, as well as other installer tools.

The MSI file contains all the information needed to install the software, including the files that need to be installed and the location where those files will be installed on the computer.

The original "MSI" stands for the name of the program that works with this format, which is Microsoft Installer. However, this name was later changed to Windows Installer, so the file format is now Windows Installer Package.

What are MSI files? How to open MSI files Picture 1

The MSU file is similar but is a Windows Vista Update Package file used by Windows Update on some versions of Windows and installed by the Windows Update Standalone Installer (Wusa.exe).

How to open MSI files

Windows Installer is what the Windows operating system uses to open MSI files when they are double-clicked. It doesn't need to be installed to your computer or downloaded from anywhere because it's built into Windows. Simply opening the MSI file will invoke Windows Installer so you can install the files contained within it.

MSI files are packaged in an archive-like format, so you can actually extract the contents with a file decompression utility like 7-Zip. If you have that or similar program installed (most of them work similarly), you can right-click on the MSI file and choose to open or extract the file to see all the files stored inside. in.

Using the file decompression tool is also useful if you want to browse MSI files on your Mac. Since the MSI format is used by Windows, you can't just double-click the file and expect it to open on your Mac.

Extracting the parts that make up the MSI file doesn't mean you can "manually" install the software - MSI will do it for you automatically.

How to convert MSI files

MSI to ISO can only be converted after you extract the files to a folder. Use the file decompression tool as the article described above so that the files can exist in the usual directory structure. Then, with a program like WinCDEmu installed, right-click on the folder and select Build an ISO image.

Another option is to convert MSI to EXE, which you can do with Ultimate MSI to EXE Converter. The program has a very simple usage: Select the MSI file and where to save the EXE file. There aren't any other options.

Introduced in Windows 8 and similar to MSI, APPX files are application packages that run on the Windows operating system. Visit Microsoft website if you need help converting MSI to APPX.

Also check out the instructions at CodeProject.

How to edit MSI files

Editing MSI files is not as simple and easy as editing most other formats like DOCX and XLSX files as it is not a text format. However, Microsoft provides the Orca program as part of the Windows Installer SDK for editing MSI files.

Use Orca as standalone without the whole SDK. Download Orca here. After you install Orca, right-click on the MSI file and select Edit with Orca.

Isabella Humphrey

Update 10 May 2022