ARCHIVED: How do I decode a Mac file with a .bin extension?

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Although it is occasionally used to represent other formats, a .bin extension indicates that the file has most likely been encoded in MacBinary, a file encoding protocol common to Mac OS, and to a lesser extent, Mac OS X. The file is probably an archive, application, or other binary file encoded to protect the Mac's forked file structure. To decode a MacBinary document in Mac OS, Mac OS X, or Windows, use StuffIt Expander. Simply drag and drop the file onto the StuffIt Expander icon and it will decode the file. When necessary, it will also decompress the file into a usable form. If dragging and dropping doesn't work, double-click the StuffIt Expander icon and, from the File menu, select Expand. In the Open dialog box that appears, choose the file you wish to convert.

Most dedicated FTP and SFTP programs (e.g., Transmit and Fetch) can also decode MacBinary files, and so can some mail clients. Other programs, such as Internet Explorer, will automatically decode any file with the .bin extension as long as StuffIt Expander is installed.

StuffIt Expander is available from Smith Micro. The Mac version is included with later versions of Mac OS and early versions of Mac OS X (up through OS X 10.3.x).

Note: To correctly decode MacBinary III files, you must have StuffIt Expander 5.0 or higher. Older versions will work to some extent, but won't extract icon badges and routing information, which are Finder features introduced in Mac OS 8.5.

This is document aeix in the Knowledge Base.
Last modified on 2018-01-18 12:08:48.