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Canon RAW Codec is Canon's free, discontinued plugin that lets 32-bit Windows show thumbnails and previews for CR2 files from older EOS and PowerShot cameras, and it will not install on any 64-bit version of Windows.
Canon RAW Codec is the plugin that made CR2 files show up as pictures in Windows Explorer instead of blank icons.
Canon stopped developing it after version 1.11, and it only ever ran on 32-bit Windows.
That second point matters more than the first, because almost every computer sold in the last fifteen years runs the 64-bit version.
Check before you download. This codec will not install on 64-bit Windows at all, on any version - there is no workaround and no 64-bit build was ever released. If you are on 64-bit Windows 10 or 11, Raw Image Extension is the maintained replacement and it covers CR2 and CR3 along with about a hundred other formats.
Is Your Windows 32-bit or 64-bit?
This takes ten seconds and decides everything else on the page. Open Settings, go to System, then About, and read the line marked System type.
On older versions of Windows, right-click Computer or My Computer and choose Properties instead. The same System type line is there.
If it says 64-bit, stop here and take one of the alternatives further down. If it says 32-bit, this codec is a genuine option and the rest of the page is for you.
What It Does On a Machine That Can Run It
The codec plugs into Windows Imaging Component, the layer Windows itself uses to decode pictures, so one install changes several things at once. File Explorer draws real thumbnails for your Canon raw files, the preview pane shows the photograph, and a double click opens it in Windows Photo Viewer.
It runs on 32-bit editions of Windows XP with Service Pack 3, Windows Vista with SP1 or SP2, Windows 7 with SP1, and Windows 8. Version 1.11 is the only one that ever supported Windows 8, which is why it is the build worth having if you are on any of these.
It also handles XMP star ratings, so a rating you apply in Explorer is visible in Digital Photo Professional and other XMP-aware software. Older builds of the codec may not read those ratings, which is the one thing to watch if you share files with someone still on an earlier version.
Which Canon Cameras It Covers
Development stopped in 2013, so the simple rule is that anything Canon released afterwards is not supported. That includes the entire EOS R mirrorless range and every camera that writes the newer CR3 format.
The EOS bodies it covers are the EOS-1D X, EOS-1D Mark IV, EOS-1D Mark III, EOS-1D Mark II N, EOS-1D Mark II, EOS-1D, EOS-1Ds Mark III, EOS-1Ds Mark II, EOS-1Ds, EOS 7D, EOS 6D, EOS 5D Mark III, EOS 5D Mark II, EOS 5D, EOS 60D, EOS 60Da, EOS 50D, EOS 40D, EOS 30D, EOS 20D, EOS 20Da, EOS 10D, EOS D60, EOS M, EOS 650D, EOS 600D, EOS 550D, EOS 500D, EOS 450D, EOS 400D, EOS 350D, EOS 300D, EOS 1100D and EOS 1000D.
On the compact side it covers the PowerShot G1 X, G15, G12, G11, G10, G9, G6, G5, G3, G2, Pro1, S110, S100, S95, S90, S70, S60, S50, S45, S40, S30 and SX50 HS, along with the SX1 IS.
Version 1.11 was the last release, and it added the EOS 6D, EOS M, EOS 7D on firmware 2.0.0 or later, PowerShot G15, PowerShot S110 and PowerShot SX50 HS. Nothing has been added since.
It is worth being clear about what Canon did and did not abandon. Canon kept developing Digital Photo Professional, which reads every raw format the company has ever shipped, but it never replaced the codec - so the ability to see Canon raw files in Explorer itself passed to Microsoft and to third-party software.
What to Install Instead
On 64-bit Windows, and on anything current, these are the real options. The first one covers most people in a single install.
- Raw Image Extension - Microsoft's free Store add-on, handling CR2 and CR3 plus about a hundred other raw formats, on Windows 10 version 1903 or later.
- Digital Photo Professional - Canon's own free editor, which reads every format Canon has ever written and applies Canon's own colour profiles.
- Microsoft Camera Codec Pack - multi-brand raw support for Windows 7 and 8, and the better choice if you want more than Canon covered.
- SageThumbs - a shell extension that generates Explorer previews without installing a system codec at all.
If you would rather use a viewer that decodes raw itself and never asks Windows for help, FastStone Image Viewer and XnView both read Canon files directly.
IrfanView does the same job more lightly, through its plugins pack. All three work on 64-bit Windows, which is the point.
For developing the files rather than just looking at them, RawTherapee and darktable are the free processors most people settle on.
CRW, CR2 and CR3
Canon has used three raw formats. CRW is the original, from the early digital compacts and the first EOS digital bodies, and it is the one most likely to give any decoder trouble today.
CR2 replaced it across the DSLR era and is the format this codec is built around. It is also the best-supported Canon raw format in third-party software, which makes it the safest of the three to still be holding.
CR3 arrived with the mirrorless bodies and is not supported here at all. For CR3 you need Raw Image Extension or Digital Photo Professional, and no version of this codec will ever read it.
The long-term answer for old files. Adobe DNG Converter turns CRW and CR2 into the openly documented DNG format without discarding the original data, which sidesteps the question of what will still read them in ten years. The guide on RAW image formats covers why that matters.
Other Frozen Maker Codecs
Every camera manufacturer wrote one of these, and every one of them stopped. They are worth knowing about only if you are keeping an old 32-bit machine alive for a specific archive.
- NEF Codec - Nikon's own, for NEF files.
- Sony RAW Codec - for ARW files.
- Pentax RAW Codec - for PEF previews.
Who Should Look Elsewhere
The tell is the System type line you checked at the top. If it reads 64-bit, this page has nothing for you and no amount of compatibility-mode fiddling changes that.
You should also look elsewhere if your camera is newer than 2013, or if what you actually want is to edit the photograph. A codec draws the picture and stops there - no exposure slider, no export, nothing to save.
Quick questions
Does Canon RAW Codec work on 64-bit Windows?
No, and there is no workaround. Canon never released a 64-bit build, so on 64-bit Windows the installer simply will not give you working previews - use Raw Image Extension instead.
Does it work on Windows 10 or 11?
Only on the 32-bit editions, which almost nobody runs. Canon last tested it against Windows 8, and anything newer is unsupported territory.
Will it open CR3 files from my EOS R camera?
No. CR3 arrived years after this codec was discontinued, so it needs Raw Image Extension or Digital Photo Professional.
Is Canon still updating it?
No. Version 1.11.0 from 2013 is the last release, no 64-bit build was ever made, and no successor was ever published - Canon kept developing Digital Photo Professional instead, which is an editor rather than a codec and does nothing for Explorer thumbnails.
My thumbnails still will not appear after installing
Restart the computer first, since Explorer loads codecs at startup. Then clear the thumbnail cache through Disk Cleanup, because Windows keeps serving the blank placeholders it drew before.
Can I edit photos with it?
No, it only displays them. Digital Photo Professional is Canon's free editor, and RawTherapee is the free third-party option.
More raw decoders, converters and viewers are listed in the Graphics section.
Download Canon RAW Codec 1.11 if you still need it on a 32-bit machine, or tell us what you used it for if you have history with it.
