Opening MID files

Did your computer fail to open a MID file? We explain what MID files are and recommend software that we know can open or convert your MID files.

What is a MID file?

The .mid file extension is the standard extension used by MIDI music files. MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. The MID files are used by a variety of music authoring programs and MIDI hardware devices.

MID files contain a variety of music data and information including details on which notes should be played and when and how loud and long each note should be. MID files can also contain controller information for a specific device, and as such can be used to change the instrument being played.

While the MID file does not contain any music itself, it does contain the attributes of the music data and can be played back using software instruments that are able to interpret the data contained in the MID file.