Occasionally, you find applications or games distributed as .jar files instead of the usual .exe file. You can't only double-click on a JAR file to run the app. How, then, do y'all open a JAR file?

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

What Is a JAR File?

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

But there was a small problem. It took multiple HTTP requests to download all the assets required for that applet to piece of work, slowing down its load time. A amend approach would be to package all the files into a single file that Coffee could access to run an awarding.

And that's exactly what the JAR file is. Inspired past WinZip, JAR is a file archive used past Java to hold anything from multimedia files to code and is accessible to Java applets.

Install Java on Your PC

The most straightforward method to open a JAR file is to install the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) on your computer. Not only does this give you lot the ability to open .jar files, but it also makes your arrangement capable of running Java apps.

  1. Download the latest JRE version, head to Oracle's official download page.
  1. Scroll down to find the correct installation package for your operating system. There are both online and offline installers. The online setup will simply download the necessary files during the installation while the offline version downloads all necessary files beginning and and then will start the installation.
  1. Run the downloaded file to begin the installation of JRE on your computer. Accept the license agreement to get the setup underway. Usually, the installer will automatically remove older versions of JRE, though yous can do that manually if needed.
  1. A completed installation allows you to run any Java app on your PC, including JAR files.

Annotation that this but allows your estimator to open up JAR files using the method mentioned below, only it doesn't acquaintance the .jar extension, which means that if you attempt to double-click a JAR file, Windows nevertheless wouldn't know what to do with the file.

Check the following section to larn how to open a JAR file once JRE has been installed.

Open From Command Prompt

To be articulate, this isn't a different method at all. You still demand to take Java installed on your estimator to open JAR files from the control prompt, so that step comes first.

Once you've installed Java on your figurer using the procedure in the concluding section, you can then use the control prompt to open up JAR files.

  1. Open Command Prompt as an ambassador. Type cmd in the search bar to locate the awarding.
  1. Enter the control coffee -jar C:pathtofile.jar , where "pathtofile" is the path of the file in question. You tin can copy the file to the C drive itself to make it easier, allowing you to enter just the file name.
  1. Upon execution of the command, Windows will use the JRE to interpret the JAR file. You should at present see the Java application running.

Unless the application you lot want is distributed as an executable Java file, you'll need to execute all these steps each time you run a JAR file.

Extract as an Archive

JAR files are archived data with a fancy name. Sure they're meant for Java applications, simply a .jar file but compresses and archives them into a single packet, thereby letting you extract JAR files using whatsoever leading file extraction tool like WinRAR or seven-Zip. This will let you come across the contents of the bundle, though you'll withal need the JRE if you want to run the application itself.

  1. Download the vii-Zip installer to extract .jar files.
  1. Run the downloaded .exe file to install seven-Goose egg on your calculator.
  1. Navigate to the directory containing the JAR file you wish to extract.
  1. Right-click on the file, select 7-Zero, and then select Excerpt All.
  1. The JAR file will be extracted into the directory.

What is the All-time 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 Surroundings installed on your PC. As JRE is gratis to download, this is the easiest way to become .jar files working on your Windows computer.

On the other mitt, if y'all just want to look at the contents of the JAR annal only non actually run it, y'all can always utilise a file extraction tool. Apps similar 7-Zip or WinRAR tin can easily extract the contents of a .jar file.