ANI File

What are ANI files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening an ANI file or are you simply curious about its contents? We're here to explain the properties of these files and provide you with software that can open or handle your ANI files.

What is an ANI file?

ANI files have multiple uses, and Windows Animated Cursor is one of them. Read more about the other uses further down the page.

Windows Animated Cursor

Files with the .ani file extension contain animated cursors that are used with Microsoft Windows.

The ANI file contains the images that make up the animated mouse pointer (cursor). The .ani file extension is used for default Windows cursors, but files with the .ani file extension may also contain custom cursors designed by professional or hobby designers.

ANI files are often included with custom Windows desktop themes that users download to customize the "look and feel" of their Windows desktop. For example, a "race car" theme may include an ANI cursor that looks like a race car instead of the standard Windows arrow icon.

How to open ANI files

We have identified two ANI openers that are compatible with this specific type of ANI file.

Programs that open Windows Animated Cursor files

Last updated: August 18, 2026

All known file formats using extension .ANI

While Windows Animated Cursor is a popular type of ANI-file, we know of 13 different uses of the .ANI file extension. Different software may use files with the same extension for different types of data.

Animation Magic Video/Animation

Animation Magic video/Animation is a proprietary multimedia format designed by Animation Magic Inc. for storing animated video sequences with synchronized audio, used particularly in CD-based software and games produced by that company. It encodes short videos with a fixed frame size that include full-motion scenes interleaved with sound, and uses a palette-based system to manage the image colors.

Files are produced by programs developed by Animation Magic Inc., encoding animations at relatively low frame rates (often around 10 fps) with audio sampled at a rate specified in the file header. The animation is "paletted," meaning all image colours are chosen from a colour lookup table (palette) stored in RIFF format. Compression of video frames uses run-length encoding (RLE) within each frame (no inter-frame prediction), limiting the number of colours per frame to 128; a particular colour index (0) is reserved for transparency.

The format's layout begins with a header containing identifying strings and versioning, followed by a table of offsets pointing to each frame's data (measured from the end of the palette). The palette appears next in RIFF's standard palette format. Each frame consists of a pair of chunks: a compressed video chunk (its size followed by payload) then an audio chunk (its size and raw PCM or other sample data). Version 2 adds additional fields in the header allowing multiple audio channels and higher bit depth compared to version 1.

The file can be identified by its initial literal signature: the ASCII bytes "ANI " followed (at offset 8) by "hdr ". It also contains the text strings "PAL DATA" and "RIFF" somewhere in the file.

While we have not verified the apps ourselves yet, our users have suggested ten different ANI openers which you will find listed below.

Atari ST NEOchrome Animation

Atari ST NEOchrome Animation files store frame-based animations created by the NEOchrome drawing program on the Atari ST. They record a sequence of full screen images ("cells") captured from the screen inside NEOchrome's Animate mode, so that you can replay drawing sequences as short animations with controlled timing.

NEOchrome writes these files when you use its built-in animation cell/sequence feature: you draw successive frames in designated screen blocks inside the NEOchrome window, then save them together in this format. Later you can load the file and playback the frames with the number of vertical blank delays ("vblanks") specified per frame to control speed. The animation frames are not compressed; each frame holds raw screen memory data in the same format NEOchrome uses for static images.

File contents begin with a 22-byte header: a long magic number, then width and height in pixels (scan lines), the size of image data plus ten, X and Y coordinates of the animation area origin, number of frames, the animation speed, and a reserved long word (set to zero). One byte signature appears at offset 0: the four-byte value 0xBABEEBEA identifies the file as a NEOchrome Animation file.

Atomic Bomberman Animation

We know that one ANI format is Atomic Bomberman Animation. We have not yet analyzed in detail what these files contain and what they are used for. We're working on it.

DK Multimedia Animation

We know that one ANI format is DK Multimedia Animation. We have not yet analyzed in detail what these files contain and what they are used for. We're working on it.

Eternity Game Engine Animation

We know that one ANI format is Eternity Game Engine Animation. We have not yet analyzed in detail what these files contain and what they are used for. We're working on it.

Imperium Galactica Animation

Imperium Galactica Animation is a proprietary animated graphics format used in the Digital Reality game Imperium Galactica (released 1997) for storing cutscenes or moving images. It is used by the game to present CGI or in-game animation sequences during menus, rankings, rank promotions, or story interludes. These files are embedded within the game's data assets and are created by the game's development tools to be played back by the game engine.

These animations are produced during the game's design phase and later decoded and rendered by the Imperium Galactica executable at runtime. They rely on supporting resources such as palette data (colour lookup) and "Data" blocks which may hold image frames or animation metadata. They are not general-purpose video files - they exist solely to enable the game's narrative or interface animations, not for external editing or playback with standard video tools.

Individual files begin with distinctive byte patterns: at offset 0 there is the ASCII sequence SpidyAni2%, at offset 18 the marker ".Pal", and at offset 791 the string "Data". The file also contains the plain string "DATA" elsewhere. These signatures are unique identifiers for the format and help distinguish it from other uses of the same ANI extension.

MP Entertainment SVGA Animation

We know that one ANI format is MP Entertainment SVGA Animation. We have not yet analyzed in detail what these files contain and what they are used for. We're working on it.

MST Quintus Animation

We know that one ANI format is MST Quintus Animation. We have not yet analyzed in detail what these files contain and what they are used for. We're working on it.

PC Animate Plus Animation

We know that one ANI format is PC Animate Plus Animation. We have not yet analyzed in detail what these files contain and what they are used for. We're working on it.

PC-Animation Video

Animation format used in the Hugo video game by Interactive Television Entertainment (ITE) Media ApS.

Philips Video Graphics Animation

Philips Video Graphics Animation files store animated image sequences created by the Video Graphics software developed for the MSX computer platform by Philips in Eindhoven in 1986. These animations are made using a program by Erkka Suopanki under the name "Animation Designer and Disk I/O functions for Philips Video Graphics." The files are intended for display on Philips MSX machines, particularly those with enhanced video capabilities, and are used to save motion graphics and animated visual content prepared in that environment.

The files are generated by the Philips Video Graphics / Animation Designer software bundle and are intended to be played back on MSX computers, especially MSX2 models that support graphics modes like SCREEN 8 (256×212 resolution with 256 colours from a 512-colour palette). The user constructs frames in the video animation program, then saves the sequence into this proprietary format for later playback or editing using the same software.

These files can be distinguished by a specific header signature: at byte offset 0 they contain the ASCII string "erkkasuopanki-eindhoven-1986", a signature embedded by the author Erkka Suopanki.

Reunion Animation

Reunion Animation format stores animated graphics used in the 1994 PC/Amiga strategy/adventure game Reunion by Amnesty Design (also released as Merit's Galactic Reunion). It represents moving image sequences (cutscenes, intro animations, credits effects) by encoding a series of frames where each frame is a compressed bitmap building on image data and palettes found elsewhere in the game files. These files enable the game to show animations overlaying static background or images from Reunion's picture file format, rather than full video-streams.

Such an animation file is written by the Reunion game engine and played back in the game to render visual motion effects. Each animation file contains multiple frames; the first frame is a full bitmap and later frames are delta images (changes) over the previous frame. The palette (set of colors) used is not stored inside the animation file but is loaded from corresponding static image files (Reunion's PIC files) in the same directory. The pixel data is indexed color (8-bit), using run-length encoding and other simple compression methods.

Technically, these files begin with the ASCII signature "SpydiAnim" at offset 2; accompanying that is a 2-byte integer giving the size of the compressed bitmap (excluding the header), followed by width and height as unsigned integers, then the compressed image data using Reunion's "SpidyAnim" RLE/delta scheme. Byte values above 0xC0 indicate runs of repeated pixels; other control values allow further compression and referencing from prior frames.

Various apps that use files with this extension

These apps are known to open certain types of ANI files. Remember, different programs may use ANI files for different purposes, so you may need to try out a few of them to be able to open your specific file.

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