To Open EXE Files on Mac, you can either install WINE, which is free software, or install Windows 8 or 10 using your Mac’s Boot Camp feature.
But, first let’s understand, what is an EXE file. EXE is a file extension for an executable file format. An executable is a file that has a program of a definite kind of file that is executed or run as a program in the computer.
A file whose name ends in “.exe” is actually a program that is opened to make the operating system run the program. This type of file is run by a program in Microsoft DOS or Windows through a command or a double click. COM and BAT are some other types of executable file types in Windows.
METHODS to Open EXE Files on Mac
- Using WINE
- Using Boot Camp
Method 1 : Using WINE to Open EXE Files on Mac
| STEP | PROCEDURE |
| 1 | Go to the WineBottler site. Open http://winebottler.kronenberg.org/. WINE is basically an advanced program, but WineBottler is a user-friendly interface to WINE. Many programs won’t work with WINE. If your EXE file won’t run on WINE, you’ll definitely need to use Boot Camp. |
| 2 | Press the “WineBottler 1.8-rc4 Development” button which is in the middle of the page with a green arrow on it. If you’re running anything below OS X Capitan, tap the WineBottler 1.6.1 Stable option. |
| 3 | Tap Download when asked. This will redirect you to an advertising screen. |
| 4 | Press SKIP AD which will appear in the top-right corner of the screen after five seconds. Do not tap anything else on the page while waiting for the SKIP AD to pop up. If you’re having an ad blocker, then disable it for the specific page. |
| 5 | Wait till WineBottler gets downloaded. Even if waiting for five seconds for WineBottler, it doesn’t begin downloading to the system, tap the “WineBottlerCombo_1.8-rc4.dmg” link to push the download. |
| 6 | Installing WineBottler. Double-click the WineBottler setup file, then drag both the “Wine” and the “WineBottler” icons into the blue “Applications” folder. |
| 7 | Two-finger tap the EXE file. This will pop up a drop-down menu. |
| 8 | Push Open With which is near the top of the drop-down menu. |
| 9 | Tap Wine that is present in the pop-out window on the left or right side of the drop-down menu, which will prompt an alert. |
| 10 | Ensure “Run directly in” option is checked. If it is not so, push the circle to the left of “Run directly in [address]”. |
| 11 | Tap Go which is a blue button in the lower-right corner of the alert window. As EXE file is supported by WINE, it will begin to load. |
Method 2 : Using Boot Camp to Open EXE Files on Mac
| STEP | PROCEDURE |
| 1 | Ensure Windows installation file. MacOS’ Boot Camp supports Windows 8, 8.1, and 10. You may download an ISO file version of Windows from Microsoft’s site. |
| 2 | Open Mac’s Utilities folder. For this just tap the magnifying glass icon in the top-right side of Mac’s screen, typing in “Utilities”, and then pressing the Utilities folder. |
| 3 | Double-click the Boot Camp Assistant icon which looks like a grey hard drive. |
| 4 | Follow the on-screen instructions. The steps entail to selec the Windows installation file, then going for the drive onto which you desire to install Windows, and restarting the Mac system. If installing Windows from a USB drive, it will prompt to insert the drive during the process. |
| 5 | Wait for Mac to restart. After finishing of set up the Boot Camp settings, you are prompted to restart the Mac. When the Mac system is done restarting, you arrive at the Windows installer screen. |
| 6 | Tap the “BOOTCAMP” partition if necessary. While installing Windows from a USB drive, it is needed to tap the option to go further with the installation. |
| 7 | While installing Windows directly from an ISO file, Boot Camp will partition the system drive for you. |
| 8 | Follow the on-screen Windows installation instructions which will vary depending on the version of Windows you opted for, but you need to restart the Mac at the end just like while setting up the Boot Camp Assistant. |
| 9 | Hold down the ? Option key as Mac restarts which will load the Startup Manager window. |
| 10 | Release ? Option when the Startup Manager appears which will display all of the various drives from which you can start up Mac. |
| 11 | Click the “Boot Camp” icon, then press ? Return to load the Mac into the Windows operating system. Navigate and double-click the EXE file. As long as Windows is being used, EXE files start running automatically after double-clicking them. |
The above steps, when done in proper sequence, will definitely going to open EXE files on Mac without problem.