Lots of good points in this thread. I've re-thought how this should work.

Nov 18, 2019 A free tool called dmg2iso will convert the DMG image file to an ISO image file, which is much more usable in Windows. If you need to mount a DMG file in Windows, but don't want to convert it to ISO first, a few programs do support this, like WinCDEmu, Virtual CloneDrive, and Prismo File Mount Audit Package.

My problem is that my downloads folder gets cluttered with dmg files. I can't remember which ones I've already installed. Some of them I have opened and installed, but I've forgotten to move them out of my downloads folder. Some of them I downloaded but haven't opened yet.

My new version of the script moves the dmg file when it is mounted. To use it, save this script to '/Library/Scripts/Folder Action Scripts/' and attach this folder action script to the /Volumes directory. Ideally, my script would trigger when you eject the disk image, but by then it's too late; the disk image is gone, and there's nothing left for AppleScript to process. I figure triggering on mount was pretty good, since I really wanted to know what dmg files I had opened or not.

Most of you didn't want to delete the dmg file. That's a good idea. My script now moves it to a dmg_archive folder. Feel free to change this to suit your needs.

Apple Mac OS X disk image file definition and 2 other types and linked programs information.

How to open DMG Files

File extension dmg is used by following type(s):

type 1 description:
Apple Mac OS X disk image files - common and mostly used .dmg file type
DMG is a mountable disk image file created in Mac OS X; opening the image file will mount a virtual disk on the Desktop; commonly used for software installers downloaded from the Internet. The DMG format replaces the .IMG file format used in Mac OS Classic and is not compatible with Mac OS 9 and earlier; DMG disk images can be opened on Macintosh computers using Apple Disk Utility, which is bundled with Mac OS X. Mime: application/x-apple-diskimage
Related programs that open dmg files:	Mac OS X, Daemon Tools, FreeDMG, ISOBuster, gBurner, PeaZip

type 2 description:
Oracle binary format dump files
This file type is used by the ORACLE Export utility and Import utility.
Related programs that open dmg files:	Oracle Database 11g

On Mac the DMG format is used. The files in this format are containing folders where you can find the programs that we want to install in our team, quickly and easily. Unless you're looking for specific applications that are not available in the Mac App Store, it's unlikely you'll end up with such a file.

What is a DMG file and what is it used for?

The DMG files is the equivalent of the files in ISO format in Windows, because when you open them, a new unit is created, the unit that you have to access in order to install the corresponding file on your computer or simply move it to the applications folder .

This type of file usually contains, in addition to the file that allows us to enjoy the program, a text document with a brief description or with instructions on its operation or compatibility.

How to open DMG files

What Happens If I Delete A Dmg File In Computer

DMG files are the equivalent of ISO in Windows. The files in ISO format, not only allows us to access their interior and copy them to a CD or DVD as it is, but also allow us to install or copy their content. With the files in DMG format three quarters of the same happens, since the file itself can be an installer that we unzip and point, or it can be a disk image that contains different files that have to be copied as is another file or on an external drive.

Install DMG files

Although at first it may seem that we are going to need a complicated process to open a file in DMG format, nothing is further from reality, since we only have to click twice on it to create a new unit where we will find all the content that is inside. Then just that we have to access the unit in question and execute the file so that it is installed or executed.

It is necessary to take into account the type of file that is, since in some occasions, an actual installation is not performed on our Mac, but the application only runs, so if we subsequently delete the .DMG file we will lose access to the application. In these cases, if it is an executable application, we must drag the file to the applications.

Restore content in a unit
If, on the contrary, it is an image that contains a copy of a unit, it will not help us to access the inside of the file to consult it if we are not going to be able to access the data or make use of the application. In these cases, we must use Disk Utility, with which we can select both the file in DMG format that we want to restore and the unit where we want to do it quickly and very easily.

What application do I need to open a file in DMG format?

As in Windows no third-party application is required to work with files in ISO format, Mac does not need any application to work with files in DMB format, although on the Internet we can find various applications that allow us to do are not really necessary , unless we are forced to open this type of files on other platforms such as Windows or Linux, where the PeaZip application is one of the most recommended, a completely free application.

What to do if you do not open a DMG file

Since the launch of macOS Sierra, Apple has eliminated the possibility of natively installing third-party applications that have not been created by developers previously identified by Apple. If the DMG files containing the application that we want to install, shows us an error message, stating that the file may be corrupt, we must activate the possibility of activating third-party applications by entering the following line in Terminal.

sudo spctl -master-disable

eye! in front of master are two dashes (- -) Next we must restart the Finder with the following command: Killall Finder

Once we have entered that command, we return to the section Security and privacy located within System preferences and Allow applications downloaded from: select Any site.

How to convert a DMG file to EXE

What Happens If I Delete A Dmg File Windows 10

A DMG file, as I mentioned above, is a folder containing several applications, which create a unit when we open them, so it is not an executable on Mac, therefore, we can not convert a DMG file to EXE Trying to convert a DMG file to an executable is like converting a folder with pictures (for example) into executable files.

How to read DMG files in Windows

If we want to access the content stored in a DMG file on a PC, in Windows we have several applications at our disposal that allow us to unzip the file to access its content. Another issue is that we can do something with the content of it. The best applications that we can find currently in the market for this work are PeaZip, 7-Zip and DMG Extractor.

Pea7Zip open DMG files in Windows

One of the best free tools to work with compressed files is PeaZip, a tool compatible with all the most used formats on the market, in addition to DMG, ISO, TAR, ARC, LHA, UDF ... The user interface is very intuitive and does not we will have no problem in making us quickly with this application to decompress from our Windows PC any file in DMG format.

What Happens If I Delete A Dmg Files

DMG Extractor

DMG Extractor, as its name indicates, is an excellent application to extract the contents of files in DMG format quickly and easily. This tool is not free but for specific occasions, we can download the trial version through the following link. A version that allows us to decompress files in DMG format whose size does not exceed 4 GB.

7-Zip open DMG files in Windows

What Happens If I Delete A Dmg File Free

7-Zip is an excellent tool to compress and decompress any type of file on our Windows PC, a tool that is also completely free and compatible with macOS DMG files.

What Happens If I Delete A Dmg File In Firefox

Once we have installed the application, we just have to place it on top of the file, press the right button and select open with 7-zip to start extracting the content.

How to read DMG files in Linux

But if we want to open files in DMG format in Linux, we can use PeaZip again. It is the same application that we can use to decompress this type of files in Windows.

It is an application compatible with more than 180 formats and that is also completely free.