PRACTICAL GUIDES · RESEARCH & EDUCATION
How to open DICOM files on a Mac
Use OmniDICOM to open a DICOM folder, select a series and browse its images. This guide takes you from the Mac installer to your first study.
Based on OmniDICOM 1.0.4 · Application interface: English
1. Check your Mac
The current Mac installer requires Apple silicon and macOS 13 or later. It is a PKG installer. An Intel Mac is not a supported target for this build. A separate installer is available for 64-bit Windows 10/11.
2. Install and start the trial
Download the Mac installer from the official homepage. Open the PKG and follow Continue → Install, then launch OmniDICOM from Applications. Start the 14-day trial in the app while connected to the internet; no payment card is required.
3. Choose a DICOM folder
Choose Open DICOM folder from the File menu, or drag a folder into the viewer. Keep the original folder structure, especially when a disc includes DICOMDIR and image subfolders. A DICOM file may have no .dcm extension; the filename alone does not identify its format.
4. Select a series and browse
Allow loading to finish, then select a series in the left-hand list. Scroll through a multi-image series and use Window, Zoom or Pan to adjust its display. If you see only one frame, first check whether the selected series actually contains multiple images.
5. Try with the synthetic sample
If you do not have a suitable study, download the synthetic CT sample below and unzip it before opening the folder. It contains a simple geometric phantom, not a patient scan. Opening this sample does not establish that every clinical dataset will be compatible.
Common questions
Why does the installer ask for a password?
macOS can require administrator approval to install into Applications. Use the Mac account authentication shown by the system, not your OmniDICOM licence key.
What if my images will not open?
Check that the files have been fully downloaded or copied and are DICOM rather than a PDF or JPEG export. Try the synthetic sample to separate installation problems from dataset-specific problems. Contact support with the app version and error text; do not attach patient files to an initial support request.
Practice without patient data
This free synthetic CT contains 24 slices of a geometric phantom. It is not clinical data and is not a diagnostic or image-quality benchmark. Unzip it, then open the folder in OmniDICOM.
Download synthetic CT (ZIP)Next steps
No card required to start a trial. Continued use requires a paid licence; trial image exports are watermarked.