# How to Open CRW Files on a Mac (2026 Guide)

> We tested every CRW in the raw.pixls.us archive on macOS 27: EOS files open, six early PowerShots don't. A 10-second camera check and the fixes.

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Published September 30, 2026 · Daniel Tello · RevelRaw

**Short answer: most CRW files open in Preview with nothing to install, but files from six early PowerShots don't open on macOS 27, and a ten-second check tells you which you have.** A `.CRW` from an EOS D30, D60, 10D or 300D (Digital Rebel), or from a PowerShot G2, G3, G5, G6, Pro1, S60 or S70, opens with the Mac's own RAW decoder, the one Preview, Photos and Quick Look share. A CRW from a PowerShot G1, Pro70, S30, S40, S45 or S50 does not, and renaming it or adding a sidecar won't change that; you need an app with its own decoder. We tested all 63 CRW and NRW files in the [raw.pixls.us](https://raw.pixls.us/) archive on macOS 27.0 on September 30, 2026, and the per-camera results are below. For the format's history, read [what a CRW file is](https://revelraw.com/blog/what-is-a-crw-file.md); this page is about getting one open.

## CRW in brief: Canon's first RAW format

CRW is Canon's first RAW format, written from the late 1990s to 2004 by the EOS D30, D60, 10D and 300D and by PowerShot compacts from the Pro70 and G1 through the G6, Pro1, S60 and S70. It uses Canon's own container rather than TIFF, and the camera usually saved a small `.THM` thumbnail beside each file. Two things trip people up: the EOS-1D and 1Ds of the same era wrote `.TIF` RAW files, not CRW, and from the EOS-1D Mark II and 20D in 2004 Canon moved to [CR2](https://revelraw.com/blog/how-to-open-cr2-files-on-mac.md), which the Mac's own decoder has read for years. The [CRW format page](https://revelraw.com/crw.md) covers editing; [the full format list](https://revelraw.com/formats.md) covers everything else.

## Check your camera in ten seconds

Apple publishes a [list of the RAW cameras macOS 27 supports](https://support.apple.com/en-us/127493) (published September 22, 2026), but your Mac carries its own copy of that list, and the copy is the one that counts. Open Terminal (Applications, then Utilities) and paste this, replacing the camera name with yours:

`system_profiler SPRawCameraDataType | grep -i "PowerShot G2:"`

The first part prints every camera model your Mac's built-in RAW decoder knows; the second part filters it to your camera. Keep the colon after the model name: without it, a search for the G1 also finds the G10, G11, G12, G15, G16 and G1 X, later cameras the Mac does read. A line back means Preview, Photos and Quick Look will read the files. Nothing back means they won't. **In our test this list predicted the result for all 17 CRW cameras: the 11 listed bodies all opened, the 6 unlisted ones all failed.** Apple's web page got 16 of 17. The miss is the PowerShot G2, which opened at full size on our Mac and appears in the Mac's own list, yet isn't on Apple's web page for macOS 27 or any earlier version we parsed (a search for "G2" finds only a Panasonic). If your G2 files open, that's why; trust the Terminal command over the web page.

## Opening a supported CRW: Preview, Photos, Quick Look

If your camera passed the check, there is nothing to install. Double-click the `.CRW` to open it in Preview; if another app has claimed the extension, Control-click the file, choose Open With, then Preview. To keep the RAW and edit it non-destructively, drag it into Photos or choose File, then Import. To glance at it, select it in Finder and press Space.

## What every CRW camera did on macOS 27

Eleven of the 17 CRW cameras opened in the Mac's built-in RAW decoder, the one Preview and Photos use; six early PowerShots did not. We ran all 21 genuine Canon CRW files in the raw.pixls.us archive through it. "Opens" means the decoder produced a full-size image twice over, byte for byte identical both times, and produced the same image again after we blanked every JPEG stored inside the file, so what you're seeing is a real RAW render and not the camera's preview in disguise.

| Camera | Opens with the Mac's decoder? | On Apple's macOS 27 web list? | JPEG stored inside the file |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| EOS D30 | Yes, 2160 × 1440 | Yes | 1440 × 960 |
| EOS D60 | Yes, 3072 × 2048 | Yes | 2048 × 1360 |
| EOS 10D (3 files) | Yes, 3072 × 2048 | Yes | 1536 × 1024 or full size, varies by file |
| EOS 300D / Digital Rebel / Kiss Digital (3 files) | Yes, 3072 × 2048 | Yes, under all three names | 1536 × 1024 to full size, varies by file |
| PowerShot G1 | No | No | 640 × 480 |
| PowerShot G2 | Yes, 2272 × 1704 | No, but in the Mac's own list | 640 × 480 |
| PowerShot G3 | Yes, 2272 × 1704 | Yes | 640 × 480 |
| PowerShot G5 | Yes, 2592 × 1944 | Yes | 640 × 480 |
| PowerShot G6 | Yes, 3072 × 2304 | Yes | 3072 × 2304, full size |
| PowerShot Pro1 | Yes, 3264 × 2448 | Yes | 640 × 480 |
| PowerShot Pro70 | No | No | None |
| PowerShot S30 | No | No | 640 × 480 |
| PowerShot S40 | No | No | 640 × 480 |
| PowerShot S45 | No | No | 2272 × 1704, full size |
| PowerShot S50 | No | No | 640 × 480 |
| PowerShot S60 | Yes, 2592 × 1944 | Yes | 640 × 480 |
| PowerShot S70 | Yes, 3072 × 2304 | Yes | 3072 × 2304, full size |

Two patterns. Every EOS body opens, and the PowerShot line splits down the middle: the G1, Pro70 and S30 to S50 fail, while the G2, G3, G5, G6, Pro1, S60 and S70 open. And a stored JPEG doesn't rescue a file the decoder rejects: the S45 carries a full-size 2272 × 1704 JPEG and still produced nothing in Preview's decoder or Quick Look. The PowerShot Pro90 IS also wrote CRW according to Adobe's camera table; it has no file in the archive and isn't on Apple's list, so treat it as untested rather than supported.

## Finder's "Kind" label proves nothing

Select any `.CRW`, press Command-I, and Finder names a raw-image kind: "Canon CRW raw image" on a Mac with no other RAW app installed, or the label of whichever RAW app has claimed the extension (on our Mac, which has Lightroom, "RAW photo file"). It gave that label to all 51 `.CRW` files in the archive: the 21 genuine ones, including the six the decoder can't read, and 30 files that weren't Canon RAW at all (more on those next). The kind comes from the extension and nothing else. What does tell you something is Quick Look: every file the Mac could decode produced a preview at every size we asked for, and every file it couldn't produced none at all. In our test the preview process hung on those files until we stopped it, so expect generic icons for a folder of unsupported CRWs; that is the decoder declining the files, not a damaged card.

## The CHDK trap: a .CRW that was never a Canon RAW

Of the archive's 51 `.CRW` files, only 21 are Canon RAW files. The other 30 came from CHDK, a free add-on firmware for PowerShot compacts. 29 of them are raw sensor dumps (one of them compressed) saved with a `.CRW` extension, carrying none of the data Mac apps need to identify a RAW file, and none of the 29 opened on macOS 27. Finder still gives every one of them the same raw-image label. The thirtieth file was a DNG that CHDK had saved with a `.CRW` extension, and it opened fine, because macOS read the contents and found a DNG. If your PowerShot A-series or IXUS shot RAW, it did so through CHDK, and the same goes for most SX models; only the SX1 IS and the SX50, SX60 and SX70 HS write RAW on their own, as CR2. CHDK can save DNG instead, which is what that thirtieth file proves, and a DNG opens on a Mac without extra software; for the dumps you already have, you need an app with its own decoder, and even then expect the odd refusal: the only `.CRW` files in the archive that RevelRaw can't open are three of these dumps.

## When a CRW won't open: what actually works

First, what doesn't. **Renaming does nothing.** We copied the G1 and S30 files under ten extensions, including `.CR2`, `.NEF` and `.DNG`, and every copy failed. The reverse proved the point: the D60 file opened identically as `.crw`, `.CR2`, `.DNG`, `.jpg` and with no extension at all, because macOS recognizes a genuine CRW by its contents. **The .THM sidecar does nothing either.** We placed one next to a CRW and both the decoder's output and the Quick Look thumbnail were byte-identical with and without it; macOS has no registered type for `.THM`. So skip the file surgery and pick an app that reads the camera. If your problem doesn't match anything here, the [cross-format RAW troubleshooting guide](https://revelraw.com/blog/raw-files-wont-open-on-mac.md) walks through the other causes.

### RevelRaw, for the PowerShots the Mac can't read

[RevelRaw](https://revelraw.com/index.md) is our native macOS editor. It tries the Mac's built-in decoder first and, when that declines, hands the file to a second decoder built into the app. In the app's sweep of the same archive on September 21, 2026, RevelRaw opened every genuine Canon CRW, including the six PowerShots macOS can't read; the only `.CRW` files it couldn't open were three CHDK dumps. Files from those six PowerShots, the G1, Pro70, S30, S40, S45 and S50, edit normally with one gap. The Kelvin white-balance controls (Auto, As Shot, temperature) are switched off for a file the second decoder opened, while the Warmth and Cast sliders still work. And no CRW gets an automatic lens profile on a Mac, whichever decoder opens it, so the manual distortion, chromatic aberration and vignetting sliders are what you get either way. Exposure, tone curve, color and the preset ranking from AI scene detection all work as usual, though the second decoder keeps less highlight headroom than the Mac's own, so a first render can look a little darker. Everything runs on your Mac and nothing is uploaded. It's free to download with one free full-quality export, on macOS 26 or later with an Apple M1 or later.

### Canon's own software, for the EOS bodies only

Canon's Digital Photo Professional 4 manual lists `.CRW` among the RAW extensions it reads and names the EOS D30, D60, 10D and 300D among its compatible cameras. Its PowerShot list starts at the G9, a CR2 body, so no CRW-era PowerShot is covered. DPP 4.21.30 for macOS, released July 23, 2026, lists macOS 14, 15 and 26 and not yet macOS 27, and the download page asks for a Canon camera serial number. For an old EOS archive it is the maker's own converter; for a PowerShot it adds nothing.

### Adobe, and the DNG route into Preview

Adobe's Camera Raw supported-cameras table (last updated September 29, 2026) lists every CRW body, all supported since the earliest Camera Raw releases, so Lightroom, Lightroom Classic and Photoshop all open them. The same table backs Adobe's free DNG Converter, which turns a CRW into a DNG; macOS reads DNG, so this is the no-subscription way to get a G1 or S45 file into Preview and Photos. [Our DNG guide](https://revelraw.com/blog/how-to-open-dng-files-on-mac.md) covers what to expect from the result. darktable 5.6.1 reads every CRW body too, though its camera-support page marks the EOS D30 and PowerShot G1 as basic support without white-balance presets or noise profiles.

## Converting a CRW to JPEG

For a camera the Mac reads, open the CRW in Preview and choose File, then Export, then JPEG; for the rest, export from whichever app above opens it. For a whole folder, open the CRWs together in Preview, select them all in the sidebar and export in one pass. For the six PowerShots the Mac can't read, convert to DNG with Adobe's free DNG Converter first, then export from Preview. Either way, keep the original CRWs: a JPEG bakes in one rendering, and the RAW lets you redo it. The edit-first, export-last version of all this is in [our RAW to JPEG guide](https://revelraw.com/blog/convert-raw-to-jpeg-mac.md).

## How we tested

On September 30, 2026 we downloaded all 63 CRW and NRW files in the raw.pixls.us archive, checksums verified, onto a MacBook Pro running macOS 27.0 (build 26A428). Each file went through the Mac's built-in RAW decoder twice, through Quick Look at 256, 1024 and 3000 pixels, through exiftool for metadata and stored JPEGs, and through the decoder again with every stored JPEG blanked out; we also renamed files, added a sidecar, and dumped the Mac's supported-camera list with the Terminal command above. 22 of the files are under a non-commercial license and were used for local testing only; if you want a CRW to try yourself, [our own CC0 sample-RAW set](https://revelraw.com/sample-raw-files.md) includes an EOS D60 file. Limits: one Mac and one macOS build, mostly one file per camera, and Preview and Photos exercised through the decoder they share rather than clicked by hand. The [Nikon NRW half of the same test](https://revelraw.com/blog/how-to-open-nrw-files-on-mac.md) has its own guide.

**Sitting on a CRW archive from an early EOS or PowerShot?** RevelRaw opens your `.CRW`, reads the scene, and ranks 40+ curated presets for that photograph. Free to download, with one free export to try the full workflow. [Get RevelRaw on the Mac App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id6773942240?pt=120914369&ct=BlogCRW&mt=8) (requires macOS 26 or later).

## FAQ

### Can Preview open CRW files?

For most CRW cameras, yes. In our test of every CRW file in the raw.pixls.us archive on macOS 27, files from the EOS D30, D60, 10D and 300D and from the PowerShot G2, G3, G5, G6, Pro1, S60 and S70 opened at full size with the Mac's built-in decoder, the one Preview uses. Files from the PowerShot G1, Pro70, S30, S40, S45 and S50 did not, and no renaming or sidecar changed that.

### Why won't my CRW files open on my Mac?

Usually because the Mac's built-in RAW decoder never learned that camera. In our test the PowerShot G1, Pro70, S30, S40, S45 and S50 all failed on macOS 27, and none of them appears in the Mac's own supported-camera list. The files are fine: an app with its own decoder, such as RevelRaw, Adobe Camera Raw or darktable, opens them, and Adobe's free DNG Converter can turn them into DNGs that Preview reads. A CRW from a PowerShot not named on this page is most likely a CHDK sensor dump, which no built-in Mac app opens.

### Finder says my CRW is a raw image. Doesn't that mean it will open?

No. On macOS 27, Finder labeled all 51 `.CRW` files in our test the same raw-image kind, including the six PowerShot files the Mac can't decode and 30 files that weren't Canon RAW at all. The label comes from the extension alone. The only signs that count are a Quick Look preview when you press Space and the file opening in Preview.

### Can I rename a .CRW to .CR2 or .DNG so it opens?

No. We renamed a PowerShot G1 and a PowerShot S30 file to ten different extensions, including `.CR2`, `.NEF` and `.DNG`, and every copy failed. The reverse is also true: a CRW the Mac supports opened identically under every name we tried, even `.jpg`, because macOS recognizes a genuine CRW by its contents, not its extension.

### What is the .THM file next to my CRW?

A small JPEG thumbnail the camera saved beside each CRW under the same name, such as CRW\_1834.THM. macOS ignores it: in our test, adding one next to a CRW changed neither the Mac's rendering nor the Quick Look thumbnail. Keep it with the CRW when you copy or archive the folder; it takes almost no space.

### Does Canon's Digital Photo Professional still open CRW files?

Partly. Canon's DPP 4 manual lists `.CRW` among the RAW extensions it reads and names the EOS D30, D60, 10D and 300D as compatible cameras, but its PowerShot list starts at the G9, so no CRW-era PowerShot is included. DPP 4.21.30 for macOS, released July 23, 2026, lists macOS 14, 15 and 26, not 27, and the download asks for a Canon camera serial number.

### Can Photoshop or Lightroom open CRW files?

Yes. Adobe's Camera Raw supported-cameras table, updated September 2026, lists every CRW body, all supported since the earliest Camera Raw releases, and Camera Raw is what Photoshop, Lightroom and Lightroom Classic use. Adobe's free DNG Converter reads the same list, so you can also convert a CRW to DNG and open that anywhere.

Related reading: [What is a CRW file?](https://revelraw.com/blog/what-is-a-crw-file.md) · [How to open CR2 files on a Mac](https://revelraw.com/blog/how-to-open-cr2-files-on-mac.md) · [Canon RAW editing on a Mac](https://revelraw.com/canon.md)