How to Create a CUE File for a BIN (Free Generator)

A CUE file is the little map that tells programs how to read a BIN disc image. Without it, emulators and virtual drives often refuse to load the image. If yours is missing or broken, you need to create a CUE file for the BIN.

The good news: a CUE file is plain text. Most of the time it is only three lines long. In this guide you will learn how to make one in seconds with our free generator, how to write one by hand and how to handle tricky discs with music tracks or many files.

What goes inside a CUE file

A CUE file uses a few simple commands. Each one sits on its own line.

• FILE names the BIN file and its type. For disc images the type is BINARY.
• TRACK starts a new track and says what kind it is, like data or audio.
• INDEX says where the track starts inside the file, in minutes, seconds and frames.
• PREGAP adds silence before a track that is not stored in the file. You will not need it often.

Here is the most common CUE file in the world:

FILE "game.bin" BINARY
  TRACK 01 MODE1/2352
    INDEX 01 00:00:00

The spaces at the start of the lines are just for neatness. Programs do not care about them.

Option 1: Use our free CUE generator

This is the quickest and safest way for single-track discs.

1. Go to our BIN file opener.
2. Drop your .bin file in. It stays on your computer.
3. Look at the type. You want “Raw CD image” or “Likely raw CD image”.
4. Click the “Convert & save” tab.
5. Click “Download .cue”.
6. Move the CUE into the same folder as the BIN.

The generator does three smart things for you. It writes the exact BIN file name into the FILE line. It reads the mode byte of the first sector to choose MODE1 or MODE2. And it uses the Windows line endings that older tools expect.

If the tool says your file is an ISO instead, you do not need a CUE at all. Rename it to .iso and mount it. See BIN vs ISO.

Option 2: Write a CUE file by hand

Making one yourself takes two minutes and teaches you how they work.

On Windows

1. Open Notepad.
2. Type the three lines from above. Change game.bin to your file’s exact name.
3. Click File, then Save As.
4. Set “Save as type” to “All files”.
5. Name it game.cue and save it next to the BIN.

On Mac

1. Open TextEdit.
2. Click Format, then “Make Plain Text”.
3. Type the three lines with your file name.
4. Save as game.cue. If TextEdit adds .txt, rename the file in Finder and remove it.

On Linux

Use any text editor, such as gedit, nano or Kate. Type the same three lines and save the file with a .cue ending in the same folder as the BIN.

Picking the right track mode

The mode is the part people get wrong most often. It tells the program how big each sector is and what is inside it.

• MODE1/2352: PC CD-ROMs, Sega Saturn, Sega CD, Neo Geo CD and many others.
• MODE2/2352: PlayStation 1, Video CD and CD-i discs.
• MODE1/2048: data-only images where each sector holds just the 2048 user bytes.
• AUDIO: music tracks. Each sector is 2352 bytes of sound.

How do you know which one? Look at byte 15 of the file, counting from zero. In a raw data image, that byte holds the mode number, 01 or 02. Our tool reads it for you. You can also check it yourself in the hex view. The first row ends with the sector address and then the mode byte.

Discs with music tracks

Many 1990s games used CD audio for their soundtrack. These discs have one data track and several audio tracks. If you only describe the data track, the game runs but the music is silent or broken.

For these, every track needs its own TRACK and INDEX lines. You need to know where each track starts. The start times come from the original disc. You have three ways to get them:

1. Rip the disc again with a ripping tool that writes a full CUE.
2. Find the exact CUE for your disc in a game preservation database. Match the title, region and version.
3. If the tracks were saved as separate files, build the CUE from the file list, as shown below.

Here is a two-track example in one file:

FILE "game.bin" BINARY
  TRACK 01 MODE1/2352
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
  TRACK 02 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 31:40:12
    INDEX 01 31:42:12

INDEX 00 marks the start of the gap before the song. INDEX 01 marks where the song really starts. Times use 75 frames per second.

Discs split into many BIN files

Modern ripping tools often save each track as its own file. You might see “Game (Track 1).bin”, “Game (Track 2).bin” and so on. The CUE then has one FILE line per track:

FILE "Game (Track 1).bin" BINARY
  TRACK 01 MODE2/2352
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "Game (Track 2).bin" BINARY
  TRACK 02 AUDIO
    INDEX 00 00:00:00
    INDEX 01 00:02:00

Each audio file usually starts with a two-second gap, so INDEX 01 is at 00:02:00. This layout is easy to build by hand because each track starts at zero in its own file.

How to test your new CUE file

• Mount it. Use a virtual drive tool on Windows. If a drive appears with files, the data track is fine. See how to mount a BIN file.
• Load it in an emulator. If the game boots and you hear music, all tracks are right.
• Read the error. “File not found” means the name is wrong. “Unsupported mode” means the mode is wrong.

Common CUE file mistakes

• Wrong file name. The FILE line must match the BIN exactly. Some systems care about capital letters.
• Hidden .txt extension. Windows may save game.cue.txt. Turn on file extensions to check.
• Curly quotes. Word processors swap straight quotes for curly ones. Use a plain text editor.
• Wrong mode. PlayStation needs MODE2. Most others need MODE1.
• Files in different folders. Keep the CUE and all BINs together, or use full paths.

Where CUE files came from

The CUE sheet format was made popular by CDRWIN, a CD burning program from the 1990s. It needed a simple way to describe every track on a disc so it could burn an exact copy. The format was so easy to read that emulators and disc tools adopted it too. Today almost every program that handles raw CD images understands CUE files, which is why one small text file can still make or break a disc image.

Real example: rescuing a Saturn backup

Bilal has an old Sega Saturn disc backup. The CUE got lost when he copied his collection to a new drive. He opens the BIN in our tool. The type says “Raw CD image”. In the hex view, byte 15 shows 01. The tool’s CUE uses MODE1/2352. He saves it, loads it in his emulator and the game starts. The intro music is missing, so he looks up the disc in a preservation database, finds the full track list and copies it into his CUE. Now the music plays too.

A CUE file cheat sheet

Keep this short list nearby when you build CUE files by hand:

• One FILE line per BIN file, with the name in straight double quotes.
• TRACK numbers go from 01 upward with no gaps.
• Every track needs an INDEX 01. INDEX 00 is optional and marks a gap.
• Times are minutes:seconds:frames, and one second has 75 frames.
• Data tracks use MODE1 or MODE2. Music tracks use AUDIO.
• Save the file as plain text with a .cue ending.

If you follow these six rules, almost every emulator and mounting tool will accept your file. When in doubt, generate one with our tool first and then edit it, so you start from a working base.

Frequently asked questions

Can I create a CUE file without software?

Yes. Notepad or TextEdit is enough. Or use our free online generator, which also checks the mode.

Do I need a CUE file for an ISO?

No. ISO files mount on their own. CUE files are for raw BIN images.

Can one CUE file describe many BIN files?

Yes. Add one FILE line for each BIN, followed by its TRACK and INDEX lines.

Why does my emulator still say “invalid CUE”?

Check for curly quotes, a .txt extension and the exact file name. Then try the other mode.

Conclusion

Creating a CUE file is simple once you know the three key lines. For most discs, our free BIN file opener builds one in a click and picks the right mode for you. For discs with music, add a TRACK and INDEX for each song. Then mount or play your image as normal. Still stuck? Read how to open a BIN file without a CUE.