How do I convert a BIN/CUE to an ISO?

Drop the .cue and its .bin file (or files) on the box above together, and press Save ISO. If you have only the .bin, drop it alone: a disc with one data track converts without its cue sheet, though any audio tracks are only found with it.

How do I play a .bin and .cue in VLC?

VLC plays a Video CD or an audio CD from its .cue on some systems, but often not. Here, a Video CD image gives its films as MPEG files that VLC plays directly, and an audio CD image gives WAV or FLAC files, one per track, that any player opens.

What is the difference between ISO, MDS/MDF and BIN/CUE?

All three are copies of a disc. An ISO keeps only the data of one data track. BIN/CUE and MDF/MDS keep every sector in full, with a separate file describing the tracks: a text .cue for BIN, a binary .mds for Alcohol's MDF. That is why audio CDs, mixed-mode games and Video CDs are kept as BIN/CUE or MDF/MDS, and plain data discs as ISO.

Do I need the .mds file to convert an .mdf?

It is best to drop both: the .mds says where each track is. An .mdf of a plain data CD or DVD converts on its own, as one data track, but audio tracks and sessions are only known from the .mds.

My .mdf file is not a disc image. What is it?

Microsoft SQL Server keeps its databases in .mdf files too (with an .ldf log beside them). The page tells the two apart by their contents; a SQL Server database is opened by attaching it in SQL Server Management Studio, not here.

Can it convert a Dreamcast or other game CDI?

It reads DiscJuggler CDI images of your own discs and converts their tracks: the data track to an ISO (placed where its files expect, for a second-session track), audio tracks to WAV, or the whole disc to BIN/CUE. Many game discs mix track types or use Mode 2 sectors, so for an emulator the BIN/CUE is usually the better choice.

Does it remove copy protection?

No. It converts between image formats and nothing more. It does not decrypt images, remove protection or rebuild what a protection scheme hid; an image of a protected disc converts no differently from any other, which usually means the protection's checks fail.

Why is the BIN bigger than the ISO?

A BIN keeps all 2,352 bytes of every sector - the data plus its sync, address and error-correction codes - and every track, audio included. An ISO keeps only the 2,048 bytes of data in each sector of the data track, about 13% smaller.

Is there a size limit for disc images?

In Chrome and Edge the result is written straight to your drive as it is made, so DVD images of several gigabytes convert fine. Firefox and Safari cannot save straight to a file, so each result is built in memory first, up to 1.5 GB. A ZIP of several files holds up to 4 GB.

Is my disc image uploaded?

No. It is read and converted in this browser tab with this page's own readers for each format; nothing is sent anywhere.

Stays on your computer Images of any size are read a slice at a time; Chrome and Edge write the result straight to disk, other browsers build it in memory up to 1.5 GBHow this works

Free disc image converter: BIN/CUE, MDF, NRG and CDI to ISO

Turn your own old CD and DVD backups into files today's computers open: an ISO of the data, WAV or FLAC of the audio tracks, or a clean BIN/CUE. Reads Nero, Alcohol 120%, CloneCD, DiscJuggler and BIN/CUE images in your browser; nothing is uploaded.

Drag & drop a disc image here, or browse

.cue + .bin · .ccd + .img · .mds + .mdf · .nrg · .cdi · .iso · choose all of a disc's files together, or drop its folder · nothing is uploaded

A disc in several files (a .cue with one .bin per track) is easiest to open as its folder.

About the disc image converter

CD and DVD backups made in the 2000s are often in a format of the program that made them: Nero's .nrg, Alcohol 120%'s .mds and .mdf, CloneCD's .ccd, .img and .sub, DiscJuggler's .cdi, or a .bin with its .cue sheet. Those programs are long gone from most computers, and Windows, macOS and Linux open none of these formats, but every one of them opens an ISO. This page reads the image you choose, track by track, and writes the parts you want in formats that open anywhere. It is free to use, with no account and no upload limit, and it runs entirely in your browser: nothing is uploaded, and while the page stays open, a feature you have already used keeps working offline.

It converts disc images you made yourself, from your own discs. It is a format converter only: it does not remove or get round copy protection, and it does not decrypt anything. An encrypted image, or one in a program's own closed format such as a DAEMON Tools .mdx, is not read.

What you can do

Convert BIN/CUE to ISO, MDF/MDS to ISO, NRG to ISO, CDI to ISO and CCD/IMG to ISO, keeping exactly the 2,048 bytes of data in each sector
Save the audio tracks of a music CD or a mixed-mode disc (a game with its soundtrack on the disc) as WAV, or as FLAC at about half the size
Turn any of these images into a clean BIN/CUE of full 2,352-byte sectors with a new cue sheet - one .bin, or one per track - with error-correction data rebuilt where the image left it out
Copy the films out of a Video CD or Super Video CD image as MPEG files
Read cue sheets with one .bin per track, WAV files and MOTOROLA (big-endian) audio; Alcohol 120% images split over several .mdf parts; Nero disc-at-once and track-at-once images, old and new; DiscJuggler 2, 3 and 3.5
See every track with its type, start, length and pregap, and the disc's sessions, before converting
Open the ISO in the Archive Toolkit straight after, to browse the files on the disc and save single ones
Convert images of many gigabytes: in Chrome and Edge the result is written to disk as it is made, with progress and a Stop button

How to convert a disc image

Drop all of the disc's files on the box above together: the .cue with its .bin files, the .mds with its .mdf, or the .ccd with its .img. A Nero .nrg, a DiscJuggler .cdi or an ISO is one file. Dropping the disc's folder works too.
Check the list of tracks. A data track becomes the ISO; audio tracks become WAV or FLAC files.
Press Save ISO (or save the audio, the BIN/CUE or the films) and choose where the file goes.

The formats

BIN/CUE: The .bin holds every sector of the disc as it was read, 2,352 bytes each; the .cue is a short text file listing the tracks, their types and where each starts. Made by CDRWIN, ImgBurn, cdrdao and many rippers, and what most emulators want.
NRG (Nero): Nero Burning ROM's image: the sectors, followed by Nero's own description of the tracks and sessions at the end of the file.
MDS + MDF (Alcohol 120%): The .mdf holds the sectors and the small .mds describes them, so both are needed. Large DVD images may be split into several .mdf parts. Version 2 descriptors (DAEMON Tools .mdx and some later programs) are a different format, not read here.
CCD + IMG + SUB (CloneCD): The .img holds the raw sectors, the .ccd is a text table of contents, and the .sub keeps the subchannel, which an ISO, WAV or BIN/CUE does not need.
CDI (DiscJuggler): One file with every track and the description at the end. Common for Dreamcast homebrew and for old multisession CDs.
ISO: Just the data: 2,048 bytes for each sector of one data track. Every modern operating system opens it.

Opening the ISO

Windows 8, 10 and 11: double-click the .iso (or right-click it and choose Mount). It appears as a DVD drive in File Explorer; right-click the drive and choose Eject when you are done.
macOS: double-click the .iso and it appears on the desktop and in Finder's sidebar, or open it in Disk Utility. Drag it to the Bin to eject.
Linux: most file managers mount it with a double-click; or run sudo mount -o loop disc.iso /mnt.
Any system: open it in the Archive Toolkit to look at and save the files inside without mounting it.

Why some discs do not fit in an ISO

An ISO holds 2,048 bytes of data for each sector of one data track, and that is all an ordinary data CD or DVD uses. Some discs use more of the sector or more than one kind of track:

Audio CDs have no data track at all: their tracks are sound, 2,352 bytes a sector, and become WAV or FLAC files instead.
Mixed-mode and Enhanced CDs (a data track and audio tracks on one disc, as many 1990s PC games did) give an ISO of the data and separate audio files; a BIN/CUE keeps the whole disc together.
Video CDs, Super Video CDs, PlayStation and CD-i discs keep video and sound on "Mode 2 Form 2" sectors of 2,324 bytes. An ISO would cut each of those sectors short, so the page says so and offers the BIN/CUE, or the films as MPEG for a Video CD.
Multisession CDs (a CD-R written in more than one go) are converted from the newest session, which lists every file the disc shows; its ISO keeps the place on the disc the files are addressed by.

Questions

How do I convert a BIN/CUE to an ISO?: Drop the .cue and its .bin file (or files) on the box above together, and press Save ISO. If you have only the .bin, drop it alone: a disc with one data track converts without its cue sheet, though any audio tracks are only found with it.
How do I play a .bin and .cue in VLC?: VLC plays a Video CD or an audio CD from its .cue on some systems, but often not. Here, a Video CD image gives its films as MPEG files that VLC plays directly, and an audio CD image gives WAV or FLAC files, one per track, that any player opens.
What is the difference between ISO, MDS/MDF and BIN/CUE?: All three are copies of a disc. An ISO keeps only the data of one data track. BIN/CUE and MDF/MDS keep every sector in full, with a separate file describing the tracks: a text .cue for BIN, a binary .mds for Alcohol's MDF. That is why audio CDs, mixed-mode games and Video CDs are kept as BIN/CUE or MDF/MDS, and plain data discs as ISO.
Do I need the .mds file to convert an .mdf?: It is best to drop both: the .mds says where each track is. An .mdf of a plain data CD or DVD converts on its own, as one data track, but audio tracks and sessions are only known from the .mds.
My .mdf file is not a disc image. What is it?: Microsoft SQL Server keeps its databases in .mdf files too (with an .ldf log beside them). The page tells the two apart by their contents; a SQL Server database is opened by attaching it in SQL Server Management Studio, not here.
Can it convert a Dreamcast or other game CDI?: It reads DiscJuggler CDI images of your own discs and converts their tracks: the data track to an ISO (placed where its files expect, for a second-session track), audio tracks to WAV, or the whole disc to BIN/CUE. Many game discs mix track types or use Mode 2 sectors, so for an emulator the BIN/CUE is usually the better choice.
Does it remove copy protection?: No. It converts between image formats and nothing more. It does not decrypt images, remove protection or rebuild what a protection scheme hid; an image of a protected disc converts no differently from any other, which usually means the protection's checks fail.
Why is the BIN bigger than the ISO?: A BIN keeps all 2,352 bytes of every sector - the data plus its sync, address and error-correction codes - and every track, audio included. An ISO keeps only the 2,048 bytes of data in each sector of the data track, about 13% smaller.
Is there a size limit for disc images?: In Chrome and Edge the result is written straight to your drive as it is made, so DVD images of several gigabytes convert fine. Firefox and Safari cannot save straight to a file, so each result is built in memory first, up to 1.5 GB. A ZIP of several files holds up to 4 GB.
Is my disc image uploaded?: No. It is read and converted in this browser tab with this page's own readers for each format; nothing is sent anywhere.

For VMware, Hyper-V and VirtualBox hard disk files, use the Virtual Disk Converter; to split an album's FLAC or APE by its cue sheet, the CUE Splitter.