Free online BIN to ISO converter

Some disc-burning programs, virtual drives, operating-system installers, and game tools accept ISO images but not BIN/CUE images. Converting a BIN image can make a data disc easier to mount, copy, share, or archive, but it is not always lossless for audio, mixed-mode, multisession, or protected discs.

What the BIN format is

In the disk-image context, .bin is a binary image containing sectors copied from an optical disc. It commonly appears with a matching .cue sheet: the BIN stores the sector data, while the CUE file records filenames, track order, offsets, track modes, and other layout information.

CD-authoring and disc-burning programs such as CDRWin, ImgBurn, and Alcohol 120% can create BIN/CUE images. They are common for software CDs, music CDs, video CDs, older games, and other optical-disc backups. A BIN file without its CUE sheet may contain usable data, but the missing track layout can prevent correct handling of multisession or mixed-mode discs.

What the ISO format is

ISO is a single-file optical-disc image, normally containing a data-disc filesystem such as ISO 9660 or UDF together with the associated disc data. Windows, macOS, Linux, virtual-drive software, disc-writing utilities, hypervisors, and many installers support ISO directly.

For a disc with one data track, ISO is usually easier to mount, inspect, copy, verify, and distribute than a BIN/CUE pair. Conversion normally does not reduce the size: an uncompressed ISO is generally close to the amount of source disc data.

How to convert BIN files to ISO

Keep the BIN and CUE files together when both exist. Open the CUE file in a text editor and confirm that each FILE entry names the BIN file exactly, including its extension, spaces, and capitalization.

Using bchunk on Linux or macOS:

1. Install bchunk. On Debian or Ubuntu, run sudo apt install bchunk; with Homebrew on macOS, run brew install bchunk.
2. Open a terminal in the folder containing the image files.
3. Run bchunk image.bin image.cue converted, replacing the filenames with the actual BIN and CUE names.
4. Use the generated converted.iso. Depending on the track layout, bchunk can also create separate output files for audio tracks rather than placing those tracks in the ISO.

Using Windows software: AnyBurn and PowerISO can convert a BIN/CUE image through their image-conversion functions. Select the CUE file when the program asks for the source, choose ISO as the output format, specify an output filename, and start the conversion. Selecting only the BIN can discard the track information supplied by the CUE sheet.

You can also convert the file for free on 101convert.com without installing software. Upload the BIN and, if the service requests it, the matching CUE file; download the ISO after processing. Do not upload confidential disc contents, and keep the original files until the resulting ISO has been tested.

Quality and compatibility limits

A BIN/CUE image containing one data track usually converts correctly. ISO is not a complete replacement for every optical-disc image: it may not preserve audio tracks, pregaps, subchannel data, CD-Text, copy-protection information, unusual track modes, or some multisession layouts. Console discs and protected commercial discs can require the original BIN/CUE format or a specialized emulator and may not work after conversion.

For archival use, retain the complete BIN/CUE pair even after creating an ISO. Mount the ISO and inspect its files before deleting anything. You can compare or record a checksum with sha256sum converted.iso on Linux and macOS or Get-FileHash converted.iso -Algorithm SHA256 in PowerShell. If the image must boot, test it in the intended virtual machine or device because boot support depends on the source boot sectors and the conversion tool's handling of them.