FILE FORMAT GUIDE
MIDI File: What It Is & How to Open It
A MID file stores time-stamped MIDI events in a Standard MIDI File structure. It can include tracks, tempo, time signatures and descriptive events, but not recorded audio waveforms.
Quick facts
- Extension
- .mid
- Format
- Standard MIDI File
- Category
- audio
- MIME type
- Not reviewed
- Standard / developer
- MIDI Association
- Open with
- MuseScore Studio
What is MID?
SMF is an interchange representation for sequenced MIDI data. Playback depends on the receiving synthesizer, instruments and supported events, so the same file can sound different across systems.
How to open MID
MuseScore imports MIDI into its notation model; the result can differ in layout and playback from the originating system.
MuseScore StudioDesktop notation editor
Use File → Open and select a local .mid file. Review the imported notation and playback instruments before saving because MIDI does not preserve visual score formatting or guarantee identical playback.
Common uses and compatibility
- Exchange time-stamped musical performance and sequence data
Things to check
- MIDI events do not embed the rendered audio or guarantee identical instruments on every player.
- MIDI does not preserve visual score formatting, so imported notation can differ from the original application.
Technical details
- Signature
- 4D 54 68 64 (MThd)
- Encoding
- Not reviewed
- Container
- Standard MIDI File chunks
- Compression
- Not reviewed
Sources & review
Sources reviewed 2026-09-19.