updated
Jul 28, 2025
9.3MB
file size
95.9K
downloads
Microsoft Camera Codec Pack is Microsoft's discontinued RAW image codec for Windows 7, 8 and 8.1, adding File Explorer thumbnails and Photo Viewer previews for Canon, Nikon, Sony and a dozen other brands, frozen since April 2014.
Microsoft Camera Codec Pack is the multi-brand RAW codec that Microsoft shipped before Windows learned to read camera files on its own.
It was last updated in April 2014 and nothing has replaced it for the versions of Windows it targets.
If you are on Windows 7, 8 or 8.1, it is still the best answer available, and this page is for you.
Which File You Actually Need
The download page carries six files, because Microsoft shipped this differently for each version of Windows. Find your row and take that one.
| Your Windows | Take this file | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Windows 7, 64-bit | MicrosoftCameraCodecPack-x64.msi | Standalone installer, the one most people need |
| Windows 7, 32-bit | MicrosoftCameraCodecPack-x86.msi | Same installer for older 32-bit machines |
| Windows 8, 64-bit | Windows6.2-KB2712101-x64.msu | Installs as a Windows update, not a program |
| Windows 8, 32-bit | Windows6.2-KB2779444-x86.msu | Windows update package for 32-bit Windows 8 |
| Windows 8.1, 64-bit | Windows8.1-KB2899189-x64.msu | Windows update package, the last one released |
| Windows 8.1, 32-bit | Windows8.1-KB2899189-x86.msu | Windows update package for 32-bit Windows 8.1 |
Not sure which you are running? Open the Start menu, right-click Computer, choose Properties, and read the System type line.
Installation needs administrator rights and a restart before thumbnails appear. The .msu files open in the Windows Update installer rather than a normal setup window, which is expected.
Both architectures exist here. That is what separates this pack from the per-brand codecs, most of which were 32-bit only and never produced thumbnails on a 64-bit system at all.
Who Should Not Install This
Here is the tell, and it takes five seconds. Open Settings, go to System, then About, and read the Windows edition line.
If it says Windows 10 or Windows 11, close this page. Microsoft replaced this pack entirely with Raw Image Extension, which is free, still updated, and covers far more cameras than anything from 2014 could.
Installing a 2014 codec on a modern system gains you nothing and adds a second decoder for files Windows already handles. There is no scenario where this pack is the better choice on Windows 10 or later.
What It Covers
The pack plugs into Windows Imaging Component, so a single install reaches File Explorer thumbnails, the preview pane and Windows Photo Viewer at once.
It handles RAW files from Canon, Casio, Epson, Fujifilm, Kodak, Konica Minolta, Leica, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, Pentax, Samsung and Sony, covering the common formats of the time - CR2, NEF, ARW, ORF, PEF and RW2 among them.
It also switches on RAW support inside Windows Live Photo Gallery, which Microsoft discontinued in 2017 along with the rest of Windows Live Essentials.
NOTHING RELEASED AFTER 2014 IS SUPPORTED
Camera bodies newer than the final release will not be recognised, and neither will formats introduced since - Canon CR3, which arrived in 2018, is a different container entirely and no update to this pack is coming. If your camera is recent, this is not the tool.
If you want the detail on which maker writes which format, our guide to what a RAW file actually holds covers the whole landscape. The Codec Finder will narrow it down from a file extension if you would rather not read.
Why Microsoft Stopped
The short version is that the job moved into the operating system. Once Windows 10 could decode Canon, Nikon, Sony and Fujifilm files through a free Store extension built on an open-source library, a separate codec pack had nothing left to do.
Every camera manufacturer reached the same conclusion at roughly the same time, and our guide on why every camera maker abandoned its Windows RAW codec goes through what happened to each one.
The Per-Brand Codecs This Replaced
Before Microsoft shipped a multi-brand pack, each manufacturer offered its own. All are frozen, all are still hosted here, and most are 32-bit only.
| Codec | Formats | Worth it when |
|---|---|---|
| Canon RAW Codec | CRW, CR2 | 32-bit Windows only, and never for CR3 |
| NEF Codec | NEF | Nikon bodies this pack does not recognise |
| Sony RAW Codec | ARW, SR2 | Older Sony bodies on 32-bit Windows |
| Olympus RAW Codec | ORF | Olympus files this pack renders poorly |
| Panasonic Lumix RAW Codec | RW2 | Lumix bodies from the same era |
| Pentax RAW Codec | PEF | Pentax previews on older systems |
| Adobe DNG Codec | DNG | Windows 7 and earlier, nothing newer needs it |
Installing one of these alongside the codec pack is rarely worth the trouble, and two decoders competing for the same file extension is a known source of blank thumbnails.
If You Would Rather Not Rely on Windows
Several image viewers decode RAW themselves and never ask the operating system, which sidesteps this whole problem on any Windows version.
- FastStone Image Viewer pairs full-screen RAW preview with an EXIF panel.
- XnView reads over 700 formats and converts in batches.
- IrfanView is the lightest of the three, extended through its plugins pack.
- SageThumbs is the one to add if you want Explorer thumbnails without a system codec.
For developing the files rather than looking at them, RawTherapee and darktable are the free processors most people settle on, and both decode RAW independently of Windows.
For anything you intend to keep, Adobe DNG Converter turns camera raw files into the openly documented DNG format, which is the cheapest insurance against a decoder disappearing the way this one did.
Quick questions
Does this work on Windows 10 or 11?
No, and you do not need it there. Raw Image Extension is the free replacement, it covers far more cameras, and it is still being updated.
Do I need the x86 or the x64 file?
Match it to your Windows, not to your camera. Right-click Computer, choose Properties, and read the System type line - most Windows 7 and later machines are 64-bit.
Why are there six downloads?
Microsoft packaged it three ways: a standalone installer for Windows 7, and Windows update packages for Windows 8 and Windows 8.1, each in 32-bit and 64-bit. Only one of them is yours.
Will it support my camera?
Only if the body was released before 2014. Nothing newer was ever added, and Canon CR3 files in particular will not work at all.
Is it safe to install software from 2014?
The files are the original signed Microsoft packages and they install cleanly. The real risk is not malware but abandonment - an image decoder that parses files from the internet has had no security fix in over a decade.
Nothing changed after installing. What now?
Restart first, since the codec does not register until you do. If thumbnails are still blank, clear the thumbnail cache with Disk Cleanup and reopen the folder.
More codecs and bundles are listed in the Codec Packs section.
Download Microsoft Camera Codec Pack 6.3 if you still need it, or tell us what you used it for if you have history with it.
