What is the CUE file format?
.cue sheets describe several sorts of audio and data CDs. The main data for a CD using a .cue sheet is stored in one or more companion files listed inside the sheet - commonly a .BIN or .ISO disc image, or a lossless audio file such as .flac or .ape. .cue sheets also identify track lengths and include track and disc titles, performers, and genre metadata.
They come in handy when splitting a single large audio file - for example a full album ripped to one .FLAC - into individual song tracks. A player or splitting tool reads the .cue file to find each TRACK block and its INDEX 01 timestamp, then plays or extracts each segment without needing the physical disc.
Originating with CDRWIN by Goldenhawk Technology in the mid-1990s, a .cue file is plain ASCII/UTF-8 text with no binary magic bytes. It typically begins with REM comment lines (genre, date, ripper name) followed by a FILE "name" <type> declaration and one or more TRACK / INDEX entries. Burning a disc image paired with a .cue sheet requires software that understands the format - tools such as ImgBurn, AnyBurn or CUETools use the sheet as a layout guide when writing to disc.
Because .cue is plain text, any text editor can open, inspect or manually correct it.
Security & safety
RISK: LOWA .cue is harmless plain text - it can't execute anything. The real risk is in what it points at: a BIN it references can be a disc image of pirated software/games (and can carry an autorun installer or malware), so scan extracted contents. The common practical problem is not danger but breakage: if the audio/bin file is renamed or missing, the .cue fails to open - fix the FILE "..." line in a text editor. Be cautious with download sites bundling adware-laden "cue openers"; the free tools listed here (foobar2000, CUETools, AnyBurn) come from their official sites.
Format details
in a nutshellPrograms that open CUE files
Windows5 apps
VLC media player
Open-source Open the .cue to play a cue-indexed album; VLC follows the FILE line to the audio. Keep the media file beside it. 
Foobar2000
Free Open the .cue (not the audio file) - foobar reads the cue and lists each track from the single album file, with full seeking. Best for audio CUE. 
Notepad / any text editor
Open-source Open the .cue as text to read or fix the FILE line, titles and INDEX times. The fastest fix for a mismatched/renamed media file.
CUETools
Free Verify, repair and split cue+audio (FLAC/APE/WAV) into per-track files; convert and re-cue lossless rips. The specialist audio-CUE tool.
AnyBurn
Free For BIN/CUE disc images: open the cue to browse/extract, convert BIN/CUE to ISO, or burn the image to disc. Free. 
macOS3 apps
VLC media player
Open-source Play a cue-indexed album by opening the .cue with the audio file alongside it. 
Cog
Open-source Lightweight Mac audio player that reads cue sheets and shows the album's individual tracks.
XLD (X Lossless Decoder)
Free Open the .cue to split a single album file into per-track FLAC/ALAC/WAV with correct tags. The standard Mac cue-splitter. 
Linux3 apps
VLC media player
Open-source Open the .cue to play the indexed album; keep the FLAC/APE/WAV file in the same folder.
shnsplit (shntool) + cuetools
Open-source Command line: 'cuebreakpoints album.cue | shnsplit -o flac album.flac' to split a single album file into per-track FLAC.
gedit / any text editor
Open-source Edit the .cue as text to fix the FILE reference, track titles or index times. 
Android1 app
VLC media player for Android
Open-source Plays cue-indexed albums when the .cue and its audio file are together. (Track-by-track support varies by version.) Technical details
deep spec| File type | Plain-text ASCII/UTF-8 companion descriptor; no binary content |
| MIME type | application/x-cue |
| Binary signature | None - identified by opening keywords such as FILE, TRACK or REM, not by magic bytes |
| Command set | FILE, PERFORMER, TITLE, SONGWRITER, REM, TRACK, INDEX, PREGAP, POSTGAP, FLAGS, CATALOG, ISRC |
| Timestamp format | MM:SS:FF (minutes, seconds, frames) at 75 frames per second - the CD Red Book standard |
| Companion file types | .bin, .iso, .flac, .ape, .wav, .wv, .m4a - declared inside FILE commands within the sheet |
| Track mode types | AUDIO, MODE1/2048, MODE1/2352, MODE2/2336, MODE2/2352 - set per TRACK entry |
| FILE type tokens | BINARY (little-endian), MOTOROLA (big-endian), WAVE, AIFF, MP3 - defines byte order and container of the image file |
| INDEX points per track | Up to 99; INDEX 00 marks the pregap, INDEX 01 marks the audio or data start |
| Maximum tracks | Up to 99 TRACK entries per sheet, matching the CD Red Book track limit |
| Metadata fields | TITLE, PERFORMER, SONGWRITER, CATALOG (UPC/EAN barcode), ISRC per track, REM GENRE, REM DATE, REM COMMENT |
| Character encoding | ASCII or UTF-8; UTF-8 BOM is accepted by most modern tools but can break legacy CD-burning software |
| Multi-session / mixed-mode | Supports mixed-mode and multi-session discs via multiple TRACK TYPE blocks in one sheet |
| Use cases | Disc image burning, lossless album splitting into tracks, virtual disc mounting, audio playback with chapter cues |
| Released | Mid-1990s (CDRWIN); widely adopted by audio rippers and burners |
| Open standard | Yes · royalty-free |
| Specification | en.wikipedia.org |
CUE conversions
Community Q&A
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