.cue

What is a .cue file?

A cue sheet describes the track layout of a CD/DVD disc image — always paired with a .bin or .img data file.

Safe format
Type System
By Jeff Arnold (CDRWIN)
MIME application/x-cue

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What is it

A .cue file is the table of contents for a disc image. It's a plain text file that tells disc-burning software, virtual drive software, and emulators how to interpret the accompanying .bin or .img file: where each track starts, whether it's audio or data, what the gaps between tracks are, and what format the data is in.

The format was created for CDRWIN, one of the first CD burning programs, and became a de facto standard. A typical .cue file is tiny — a few lines of text referencing the much larger .bin file. Without the .cue file, software doesn't know how to split the raw binary data into tracks.

In the audio world, .cue files serve a second purpose: splitting a single lossless audio file (FLAC, APE, WAV) into individual tracks. Foobar2000 and other music players read .cue files to display and navigate to individual songs within a single-file album rip.

Technical details
Full Name
Cue Sheet
MIME Type
application/x-cue
Developer
Jeff Arnold (CDRWIN)
Magic Bytes
N/A
Safety
.cue is a known, safe format. Plain text metadata file. Safe — it only describes disc layout, it doesn't contain executable content.
What opens it
Any text editor
FREE Windows / Mac / Linux
foobar2000 (for audio)
FREE Windows
VLC (with .bin)
FREE Windows / Mac / Linux
FAQ
Do I need the .cue file to use a .bin disc image?
For multi-track discs (mixed data and audio), yes — the .cue file tells software where each track starts. For single-track data discs, you can often rename .bin to .iso and mount it directly.
How do I split a FLAC album using a .cue file?
Foobar2000: open the .cue file, select all tracks, right-click → Convert. CUETools (free) splits FLAC albums and verifies accuracy. The .cue file provides the timestamps for each track boundary.
Related formats