How to open a cab file

A cab file (or cabinet file) is a file containing one or more files - called an archive - which have been compressed into a single file to save space. The files within the cab file must be extracted to a folder such as My Documents or your Desktop, before they can be used. If the cab file contains a program that you want to run, it is best to create a temporary folder into which to extract the files, before you run it.

If you have Windows XP

Windows XP already has support for opening cabinet files. When you open a cab file in Windows Explorer, you will see the contents listed just as if it was an ordinary folder. You can drag and drop the contents to an ordinary folder before opening or running them.
Windows XP support for cab files is read only. You cannot create your own cab files, or add files to an existing cabinet. For a more robust solution to the problem of working with cab files, use Alpha ZIP.

If you have another version of Windows

There is no built-in support for opening cab files in versions of Windows that preceded Windows XP. There are many archive manager programs available on the Web, many of which support the cab format in addition to more common archive formats such as zip.
The PC Guru recommends Alpha ZIP. This software adds support for cab files and several other archive types to Windows Explorer, so that they can be treated just like folders. Alpha ZIP is more intuitive and easy to use than products which require you to use a separate application with its own user interface to work with cab files.

Applies to

• Microsoft Windows 95
• Microsoft Windows 98
• Microsoft Windows Me
• Microsoft Windows XP 

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