Loading...

QCOW2

qcow2 icon

QEMU Copy-On-Write data

File type: Virtual machine, virtualization software related file

Files with qcow2 extension can be found as one of the default disk image file types from QEMU.

What is qcow2 file?

File type category:
Virtual machine, virtualization software related file

Date updated: November 8, 2021

The qcow2 file extension was used from version 0.9 of QEMU for one of its disk image format.

QCOW image format is one of the disk image formats supported by the QEMU processor emulator. It is a representation of a fixed size block device in a file. Benefits it offers over using raw dump representation include:

  • Smaller file size, even on filesystems which don't support holes (i.e. sparse files)
  • Copy-on-write support, where the image only represents changes made to an underlying disk image
  • Snapshot support, where the image can contain multiple snapshots of the images history
  • Optional zlib based compression
  • Optional AES encryption

How to open qcow2 file?

You can work with these files in QEMU.

Suggested software to open qcow2 file:

QEMU icon
QEMU
A generic machine emulator and virtualizer
 Qemu Manager icon
Qemu Manager
A management tool for the QEMU emulator

Associated software actions with the qcow2 file

Software applications that can open qcow2 files:

Microsoft Windows

no icon available Qemu Manager

Linux/Unix

QEMU icon QEMU

Software apps that create qcow2 files:

Microsoft Windows

no icon available Qemu Manager

Linux/Unix

QEMU icon QEMU

Software applications that handle other tasks involving qcow2 files:

Microsoft Windows

no icon available Qemu Manager

Linux/Unix

QEMU icon QEMU

Related file extensions

icon .vmdk icon .ova vdi icon .vdi icon .vhd icon .vmx icon .conf icon .vmc icon .vhdx icon .pvs icon .pvm icon .ovf icon .avhd