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What is a .dcm file?

A .dcm file is a Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine File Format. This one is a specialist format without an obvious everyday home.

How to open a .dcm file

  • The program that created it is by far the most reliable way to open it.
  • On Windows, use a hex viewer or the free TrID tool to identify what the file really is.
  • On Mac or Linux, running `file yourfile` in the terminal identifies most formats instantly.

The registry records this extension against Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine File Format, so software from that family is the most likely match.

How to convert a .dcm file

  • Identify the file first, then look for an export or Save As option in whatever program can read it.

MIME type

When a .dcm file travels over the web, servers label it with this MIME type:

application/dicom

What's a MIME type?

The technical record

For archivists, developers and the merely curious: these are the PRONOM registry entries for .dcm.

Format nameVersionMIME typePUID
Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine File Formatapplication/dicomfmt/574

Got another one?