Occasionally, you detect applications or games distributed equally .jar files instead of the usual .exe file. You can't merely double-click on a JAR file to run the app. How, then, do you open up a JAR file?

Java used to be a pop coding language to create freeware games and applications. Even now, many freeware apps are distributed equally .jar files, which Windows does not natively support. This article will walk you through means to open JAR files on your computer.

What Is a JAR File?

Cyberspace browsers used Coffee to offer a dynamic browsing experience. Games and other interactive applets were coded using Java and could run on any platform.

But there was a modest trouble. It took multiple HTTP requests to download all the assets required for that applet to work, slowing downwardly its load fourth dimension. A better arroyo would be to bundle all the files into a single file that Coffee could access to run an application.

And that'due south exactly what the JAR file is. Inspired past WinZip, JAR is a file archive used by Java to concord annihilation from multimedia files to code and is accessible to Coffee applets.

Install Coffee on Your PC

The nigh straightforward method to open up a JAR file is to install the Coffee Runtime Environment (JRE) on your calculator. Not just does this give you the ability to open .jar files, merely it besides makes your system capable of running Coffee apps.

  1. Download the latest JRE version, caput to Oracle's official download page.
  1. Coil down to detect the right installation package for your operating system. At that place are both online and offline installers. The online setup volition merely download the necessary files during the installation while the offline version downloads all necessary files first and then volition first the installation.
  1. Run the downloaded file to begin the installation of JRE on your estimator. Accept the license agreement to get the setup underway. Usually, the installer volition automatically remove older versions of JRE, though you can do that manually if needed.
  1. A completed installation allows you lot to run any Java app on your PC, including JAR files.

Note that this only allows your computer to open JAR files using the method mentioned below, but information technology doesn't associate the .jar extension, which means that if you lot attempt to double-click a JAR file, Windows notwithstanding wouldn't know what to practise with the file.

Check the following department to learn how to open up a JAR file once JRE has been installed.

Open From Command Prompt

To be clear, this isn't a dissimilar method at all. Y'all yet need to have Java installed on your computer to open up JAR files from the command prompt, then that step comes starting time.

One time you've installed Java on your figurer using the procedure in the concluding section, you lot can and so use the control prompt to open JAR files.

  1. Open Control Prompt as an administrator. Type cmd in the search bar to locate the application.
  1. Enter the command java -jar C:pathtofile.jar , where "pathtofile" is the path of the file in question. You can re-create the file to the C bulldoze itself to brand it easier, allowing yous to enter merely the file proper name.
  1. Upon execution of the command, Windows volition employ the JRE to translate the JAR file. Y'all should at present see the Java application running.

Unless the application you lot desire is distributed as an executable Coffee file, y'all'll demand to execute all these steps each fourth dimension you run a JAR file.

Extract as an Archive

JAR files are archived data with a fancy proper name. Sure they're meant for Java applications, but a .jar file only compresses and archives them into a single package, thereby letting yous extract JAR files using any leading file extraction tool like WinRAR or seven-Cypher. This will allow y'all see the contents of the bundle, though y'all'll still need the JRE if y'all desire to run the application itself.

  1. Download the vii-Zip installer to extract .jar files.
  1. Run the downloaded .exe file to install seven-Zip on your reckoner.
  1. Navigate to the directory containing the JAR file you wish to extract.
  1. Correct-click on the file, select 7-Goose egg, and and so select Excerpt All.
  1. The JAR file volition exist extracted into the directory.

What is the Best Method To Open a JAR File on Windows 10?

JAR files are usually Java applications packaged into a single file. To run them, you demand to take the Java Runtime Environs installed on your PC. As JRE is free to download, this is the easiest way to get .jar files working on your Windows estimator.

On the other hand, if y'all just desire to wait at the contents of the JAR archive but not actually run it, you can always use a file extraction tool. Apps like 7-Zip or WinRAR can easily extract the contents of a .jar file.