How to Open a .JAR file on your PC

Many of the times we struggle to do simple yet very important tasks in our day to day life; being a developer is not an exception for it either. You may face technical problems at work and today we are discussing one of the very common problems that you may face, that is ‘How to Open a .JAR file’.

If you’re facing this problem this blog post is for you! Now we are guiding you Step by step, to get the solution for your question: How should one open a .JAR file on a PC? But before that, let’s get to know more about what a .JAR file actually is, to get further knowledge and understanding of the subject…

What is a .JAR File

.JAR file is a collection of multiple files as one single file, it is basically a short form of ‘Java Archive’; so easy-peasy a Java Archive file is known as a .JAR file.

Now, if you think about why they made this in the first place? Well, as you know compressing a normal file and creating a .zip file from it make it easier to distribute data over the internet, similarly .JAR file AKA Java archives are an easier way to distribute Java applications.

If you know a little about Unix, Linux then you can think .JAR as similar to a .tar archive.

Now, if we get a little deeper into it, you should know that .JAR files not just store a collection of multiple files it is more like some .JAR files contain files that make them work as standalone apps and others hold programs libraries for other programs for their use.

They store Java programs and games in a single file. That is, some Java-capable mobile devices might use those .JAR files as game files, and at the same time, some web browsers hold their ‘themes’ and ‘add-ons’ in the .JAR format.

And as we told you, JAR files are .ZIP compressed files, which are often used to store things like .class files, a manifest file, and application resources like images, sound clips, and security certificates too. They can hold even thousands of files in a compressed format in them, that’s why it’s easy to share and move .JAR files.

How will you distinguish between an executable and non-executable file?

Well, just keep in mind If double-clicking the .JAR file does not result in the file being run, it’s likely not an executable file and cannot run in this manner of action. But don’t worry we are discussing how you can see a non-executable .JAR file content in the next points.

So, next time when you see a .JAR file, you know more about it than usual don’t you?

Now, without wasting time let’s move on to the next main topic of this log post how can we open them?

Let’s Jump into it!

How to Open a .JAR file :

The no. 1 solution for this question will be by using decompression softwares for .JAR file; unarguably they are a more easier, faster and quite convenient way to do so. Now, we are going to guide you through the step by step process of opening a .JAR file in your Windows PC using decompression software, stay tuned with it till the end…

Open a .JAR file using decompression softwares

To view a non-executable .JAR file contents, that is to view a .JAR file compressed with .ZIP; you can obtain compression/decompression software that works with jar files. There are many available for free like 7-Zip, WinRAR, PeaZip and jZip.

The steps after this are as below sub-points :

  • Once you successfully installed one of this software, run that particular software.
  • Now, simply open the .JAR file by double-clicking on it, and now just extract the files contained in it.
  • After the files are getting extracted, you can view all the individual files by simply double-clicking them one by one.
  • Many of those files are probably text files, but others may require additional software to view them, so make sure to have them or to download them as necessary.

That’s how you can see compressed .JAR file contents using decompression softwares.

Now, as we discussed the perfect way of opening a .JAR file as deeply and step by step as possible, we hope that you won’t find any trouble opening your .JAR file; still, if you have any query’s additional information, doubts, or any experience and ideas you want to share with us; the comment box is all yours! We will love to talk with you so comment down below! And we will meet you in another blog post of Appscms.com, with some more awesome facts and contents for you guys, see ya!