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How to open .DMP files on Linux

To open .DMP files on Linux, .DMP is most commonly a Windows dump format; for full analysis, copy the file to a Windows PC and open it in WinDbg or Visual Studio.

Step-by-step instructions

  1. .DMP is most commonly a Windows dump format; for full analysis, copy the file to a Windows PC and open it in WinDbg or Visual Studio.
  2. If you must inspect it on Linux, you can only do limited raw viewing (for example in a hex viewer); the common, supported workflow is Windows-based debugging.

Alternative methods

  • Open .DMP in a browser-based viewer if desktop apps fail.
  • Try opening .DMP on Linux with a secondary app to rule out app-specific issues.
  • Convert .DMP only with trusted tools when direct opening is not possible.

Common issues

Windows says it can’t open the .DMP file or opens it in the wrong app

A .DMP crash dump isn’t meant for general-purpose viewers; it typically requires debugging tools. File associations may also point to an unrelated app.

  1. Install and use WinDbg to open the crash dump via its “Open Crash Dump” option.
  2. Or open the dump in Visual Studio using the dump debugging workflow described in Microsoft Learn.
  3. If Windows keeps launching the wrong program, use “Open with…” and select the debugger you want.

The dump won’t load or appears incomplete/corrupt

Dump files can be truncated (incomplete copy), generated with different dump settings (small vs complete), or not match what your analysis expects.

  1. Re-copy or re-download the .dmp to ensure it was transferred fully.
  2. Confirm whether it’s a complete memory dump (often %SystemRoot%\Memory.dmp) or a small memory dump (minidump), then use the appropriate debugging workflow.

You can’t find Memory.dmp or expected minidump files

Windows crash dumps are written to specific default locations and may differ depending on configured dump type.

  1. For complete memory dumps, check the default crash dump path %SystemRoot%\Memory.dmp.
  2. For small memory dumps, look for minidump files (often named like MiniDump*.dmp) as described in Microsoft’s small dump documentation.

Security note

.DMP files can contain sensitive data from memory (passwords, encryption keys, personal data, or proprietary code) because they capture memory at crash time; treat them like confidential data when sharing or uploading.

Back to .DMP extension page