Open MSI files in your browser
A Windows setup as a database of what it installs. Open one right here to see the product, its files and what it does as it installs, without running it. Nothing leaves your device.
Or drop it anywhere on this page
What you'll see
Your app opens like a folder, its files listed on the left, with a page beside them on what it is, who signed it and what it asks for.
- Its signature • Checked inside your browser
- SHA-256 • Compare it or look it up on VirusTotal
- Heads-ups • What it asks for and what runs
- Its files • Manifests open as text
About MSI
An MSI is a Windows Installer package: a compound file holding a database, with tables of the product's files, registry keys, shortcuts and services, and its files packed in CAB archives. Windows Installer follows the tables, so a setup can be repaired, changed or removed the same way. MSP patches and MSM merge modules are made the same way.
Custom actions are code an MSI runs as it installs, and some run as SYSTEM, with the computer's full rights. Packages are signed with Authenticode, the signature kept in a stream of its own beside the database.
Filepeek reads the database: the product's name, version and maker, what it installs, the services it adds and each custom action with when it runs. It checks the signature, the certificate chain and the timestamp, and Check now asks the CA whether it revoked the certificate.
Windows Installer package
.msi • .msp • .msm
Format
- MIME type
- application/x-msi
- Made by
- Microsoft
- Released
- 1999
Inside the file
- Container
- Compound File (OLE)
- Database
- Tables of files, registry keys and actions
- Files
- In CAB archives inside, or beside it
- Signature
- Authenticode, in its own stream
Opens in every browser
No browser opens an MSI: they download it. Filepeek opens it as a folder in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari.
- YouChromeOpens through Filepeek
- YouEdgeOpens through Filepeek
- YouFirefoxOpens through Filepeek
- YouSafariOpens through Filepeek
Questions
How do I see what an MSI installs without running it?
Drop it on this page or choose Peek an MSI. A page shows the product, its version and maker, the services it adds and the actions it runs, and its tables and files are listed like a folder.
How do I check an MSI's digital signature?
Filepeek checks its Authenticode signature, the certificate chain and its timestamp, and says who signed it and when. Check now asks the CA whether it revoked the certificate.
How do I look up an MSI on VirusTotal?
Filepeek works out its SHA-256 inside your browser. Look up on VirusTotal opens VirusTotal's page for that hash, and only the hash goes, never the file. Compare checks it against a SHA-256, SHA-1 or MD5 you paste.
Does opening an MSI install it?
No. Filepeek only reads it: nothing in it runs, nothing is installed and it never leaves your device.
Can I get files out of an MSI?
Yes. Pick any file on the left to open it. Its tables open as tables. Export saves them all as a ZIP, or, in Chrome and Edge on a computer, extracts them into a folder.