What is the XMIND file format?
Files with the .xmind extension are created by XMind - an application for brainstorming and mind mapping, for individual and group use. .xmind files store mind maps and diagrams capturing ideas generated during brainstorming sessions. Each .xmind file may contain more than one sheet, analogically to a spreadsheet workbook with multiple tabs.
Structure of .xmind
An .xmind file is a compressed ZIP archive containing the following component elements:
- a content document holding the map data and styles -
content.jsonin XMind Zen and XMind 2020 onward, orcontent.xmlin legacy XMind 3 and XMind 8 releases, - a
thumbnails/folder with a PNG preview image, - folders for attachments and other embedded resources.
Thanks to ZIP compression, the whole content of an .xmind file can be extracted manually using a simple decompression tool. It requires changing the extension from .xmind to .zip and unpacking the archive.
The predecessor of .xmind was the .xmap format, used in earlier versions of XMind software. The legacy XML-based variant borrows some structural conventions from OpenDocument.
Security & safety
RISK: LOWAn .xmind file is a ZIP-packaged document with no scripting or macro capability, so it is low risk - it cannot run code on opening. The only general caution is that, like any ZIP, it could in theory bundle an unrelated malicious file as an "attachment", so only open maps from sources you trust. Rename-to-zip is a safe way to inspect contents before opening in the app.
Format details
in a nutshellPrograms that open XMIND files
Windows2 apps
XMind
Freemium Install XMind (free), then double-click the .xmind file to view and edit; export via File > Export. 
7-Zip
Open-source Right-click > 7-Zip > Open archive to extract content.json/content.xml and the thumbnail PNG without XMind. 
macOS1 app
Linux1 app
Android1 app
XMind (mobile)
Freemium Install XMind from Google Play, then open the .xmind file to view/edit on the phone.
XMind viewer / online viewers (e.g. ATools)
Free Upload the .xmind to a web XMind viewer to display the map read-only without installing the app. Technical details
deep spec| Container format | ZIP archive; magic bytes 50 4B 03 04 ("PK") at byte offset 0 |
| MIME type | application/vnd.xmind.workbook |
| Primary content file (modern) | content.json - used by XMind Zen and XMind 2020 onward |
| Primary content file (legacy) | content.xml - used by XMind 3 and XMind 8 |
| Thumbnail storage | PNG preview image stored in a thumbnails/ subfolder inside the ZIP |
| Multi-sheet support | A single .xmind file can contain multiple independent sheets (maps) |
| Supported diagram types | Mind map, org chart, logic chart, tree chart, fishbone (Ishikawa) diagram, timeline |
| Attachment embedding | Binary attachments stored in an attachments/ subfolder within the ZIP package |
| Style storage | styles.xml (legacy) or inline within content.json (modern) |
| Package manifest | META-INF/manifest.xml (legacy) or manifest.json (modern) |
| Text encoding | UTF-8 for all JSON and XML content files |
| Predecessor format | .xmap - the format used by XMind versions prior to XMind 3 |
| Export targets | PDF, PNG, SVG, DOCX, XLSX, FreeMind (.mm), OPML, Markdown (exported from XMind) |
| Developer | XMind Ltd. (Hong Kong) |
| Released | 2007 (XMind 3); ZIP+XML (content.xml). Since XMind Zen / XMind 2020 the map is stored as content.json |
| Open standard | Yes · royalty-free |
| Specification | github.com |
XMIND conversions
Community Q&A
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