How to open a jar file?

Question

How to open a jar file?

Answer

To open a jar file in Windows, you will either need a copy of the Java Runtime Environment to run the file, or decompression software such as an unzip utility if you simply want to view one of the files within it (a jar file is much like a zip file, containing multiple files within it).

To run the file (Java Runtime Environment)
To view the file (decompression)

To run the file (Java Runtime Environment)

To run the file, you will need to download the Java Runtime Environment (if you do not have it already) from the below link.

• Download Java Runtime Environment

Once downloaded, you can run any jar file by double clicking the filename from Windows Explorer or My Computer. Note that this will only work if the jar file to be opened in actually executable. If not, you can view files within it instead.

To view the file (decompression)

To view individual files within the jar file, you can obtain compression/decompression software that can work with jar files. We recommend using either 7-Zip or WinRAR.

• 7-Zip
• WinRAR

Once you have the software, you can open the jar archive from within the software, and then extract the files. Once the files are extracted, you can view any of the individual files by double clicking them (note that most files will be text files, but others may require additional software to view them).

Additional information

See our jar definition for further information and related links