How to open .CR2 files (Canon raw photos) on Android, Windows and Linux

You’ve copied photos off a Canon camera and every shot has a .CR2 or .CR3 file, maybe next to a JPG with the same name. Windows shows a blank icon, your phone’s gallery ignores them, and an older photo program says it doesn’t recognise the format.

Folders opens Canon raw files (CR2, CR3 and the older CRW) on Android, Windows and Linux and shows the JPEG preview the camera saved inside each one, free. It doesn’t develop the raw data; for editing you’ll want a raw editor, and there are good free ones.

What is a .CR2 file?

CR2 is Canon’s raw format, usually read as “Canon Raw, version 2”. A raw file holds what the sensor recorded, before the camera applies white balance, picture style, sharpening and noise reduction, so you can make those choices later, with far more room to recover highlights and shadows than a JPEG allows. Canon has used three raw formats over the years:

Extension	What it is
.crw	Canon’s first raw format (based on a container called CIFF), used by its digital cameras of the early 2000s
.cr2	Built on TIFF; Canon’s raw format through the DSLR years, from the mid-2000s until CR3 took over
.cr3	Canon’s current raw format, built on the same ISO base media structure as MP4 and HEIF; introduced in 2018 with the EOS M50 and used by the EOS R mirrorless cameras

CR3 also brought C-RAW, an optional compressed raw mode that makes files noticeably smaller with very little visible loss.

Each of these files carries a JPEG preview made by the camera, the same picture the camera’s own screen shows you; in CR2 and CR3 files it’s usually full size. Many Canon users also shoot RAW + JPEG, which gives pairs like IMG_0042.CR3 and IMG_0042.JPG: the JPG is the camera’s finished picture, the CR3 the raw data.

How to open a .CR2 file with Folders

Android

1. Install Folders from the download page and allow access to your files.
2. Once the raw files are on the phone, through a card reader or a transfer app, type *.cr3 or *.cr2 in Folders’ search box to list them.
3. Tap one. It opens in the image viewer labelled “RAW · embedded preview”. From another app, choose Open with → Folders.

Windows and Linux

1. Put the memory card in the computer, browse to its DCIM folder in Folders and double-click a CR2 or CR3. The arrow keys step through the shoot.
2. On Windows, right-click a CR2, CR3 or CRW file in File Explorer → Open with → Folders; the installer adds Folders there.

What you can do with Canon raw files in Folders

• Go through a shoot. Folders shows the preview the camera made rather than developing the raw data, so you can zoom in to check focus and swipe or arrow through hundreds of shots to find the good ones.
• Details shows the raw format (CR2, CR3 or CRW), the full size of the raw image and the size of the preview being shown.
• Share a file or Open with another app to hand it to your raw editor.
• Keep things tidy: rename and move files from the file browser, keeping each raw file with its JPG twin.

What it doesn’t do: develop the raw data, adjust white balance or exposure, or convert CR2 or CR3 to JPG. The preview shows the picture style that was set on the camera when you took the shot.

Other ways to open .CR2 files

• Canon Digital Photo Professional (DPP): Canon’s own raw software, free for owners of Canon cameras.
• darktable and RawTherapee: free raw editors for Windows and Linux; recent versions read CR3 too.
• Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop’s Camera Raw, and the free Adobe DNG Converter to turn CR2 and CR3 into DNG for programs that can’t read them.
• Windows Photos, with Microsoft’s free Raw Image Extension from the Microsoft Store.

Problems opening a .CR2 file?

Your program opens CR2 but not CR3. CR3 is a different container, and software from before 2018 doesn’t know it. Update the program, or make DNG copies with Adobe DNG Converter.

A brand-new camera’s files won’t open in your editor. Raw editors add support camera by camera, so a new model can take a while to appear. Update the editor, or convert with the latest DNG Converter in the meantime.

Windows shows blank thumbnails. File Explorer needs Microsoft’s Raw Image Extension to draw thumbnails for Canon raw files. Folders’ viewer doesn’t need it, as it reads the preview inside the file itself.

A file won’t open anywhere. Raw files are large, and a copy interrupted part-way, or a card with errors, leaves a damaged file. Copy it again from the card, and check the card if it keeps happening.

Questions people ask

Can I open CR2 or CR3 files on Android? Yes. Folders shows the camera’s preview for both, and for the older CRW, with no account or upload. To edit the raw data on a phone, Lightroom Mobile handles Canon raw files.

How do I convert CR2 to JPG? With a raw editor: Canon DPP, darktable, RawTherapee or Lightroom develop the file and export a JPG. If you shot RAW + JPEG, the camera already made one: look for the JPG with the same name. Folders doesn’t convert raw files.

CR2 vs CR3: what’s the difference? Same idea, different container. CR3 is newer, adds the smaller C-RAW option, and needs newer software.

Should I keep the CR3 or the JPG? Keep the raw file if you might edit the photo later, since it holds far more information; the JPG is handy for sharing straight away. Many people keep both.

For other raw formats, see the DNG guide and the NEF guide, or browse all 382 file types Folders opens.