How to open a .bmp file?

BMP files can be opened by most image viewers and editors. You can also convert BMP to other formats online using SquishConvert.

How to convert a .bmp file?

Upload your .bmp file to SquishConvert, select an output format, and click Convert. Your converted file will be ready to download in seconds.

Image format

.bmp

Bitmap Image File

BMP is an uncompressed raster image format native to Windows. While it produces very large files, BMP preserves every pixel with zero quality loss, making it useful for raw image data and legacy applications.

MIME type

image/bmp

Developer

Microsoft

Introduced

1986

Advantages

Zero quality loss — completely uncompressed
Simple format, easy to read and write
Native Windows support
No compression artifacts

Limitations

Very large file sizes
No transparency support in most versions
Not suitable for web use
Outdated format for most modern applications

When to use BMP

Legacy Windows applications

Raw image data storage

Intermediate format during editing

Embedded systems and simple displays

Technical details

BMP stores pixel data as a device-independent bitmap. It supports 1, 4, 8, 16, 24, and 32 bits per pixel. Optional RLE compression is available but rarely used.