How to open an APK file on your computer

What is APK

APK (Android Package Kit) is an archive with an application inside, which helps distribute and install the program on the Android system. The APK is created using the official Android Studio development environment and then published to Google Play and other stores. Such files can be launched manually from the device storage.

One APK file includes all the necessary elements to install and operate the program. Inside such an archive, all documents with compiled application code, media files and additional information are collected.

How to open an APK file on your computer

Using Android Studio

An APK file saved from Android Studio can be opened in the same program. It allows you to decompile the archive and view its contents. Proceed like this:

1. Open official site for developers. Click Download Android Studio Giraffe if you are on Windows. If it is a different OS, scroll down the page, select the desired platform and click on the appropriate link.

2. Read the information provided and check the box to agree. Click Download Android Studio Giraffe again. The installation file will begin downloading.

3. Run the downloaded file and install the program. On Windows and macOS there will be no difficulties, but on Linux you will have to do additional steps.

First, unpack the downloaded archive into a suitable folder. Next, you need to download components for stable operation of Android Studio on a 64-bit system. So, on Ubuntu in the terminal, enter the command: sudo apt‑get install libc6:i386 libncurses5:i386 libstdc++6:i386 lib32z1 libbz2‑1.0:i386. If you are installing the program on Fedora, then enter in the terminal: sudo yum install zlib.i686 ncurses-libs.i686 bzip2-libs.i686.

After that, go to the android‑studio/bin/ folder from the unpacked archive and run the studio.sh file. The installation will begin, the process of which is identical on all systems. You will need to click on the “Next” button several times and finally click “Finish”.

4. Launch Android Studio from the Windows desktop, through Launchpad on MacOS, or from the list of programs in your Linux distribution. Before starting the utility itself, you need to download all the additional files that the application will need to work. When you first start it, you must click “Next” several times and agree to the terms and conditions for downloading components. At the end, all you have to do is click “Finish”.

5. At the final stage, among the available options of Android Studio, find and click Profile or Debug APK. This can be done on the start screen or through the menu File → Profile or Debug APK. Next, in the window that opens, specify the desired APK file and click “Open”.

Using archivers

The APK file can be opened using most archivers. This format can even be converted into more familiar ZIP or RAR without any problems. This way you can quickly view their content through the built-in capabilities of the operating system or through a program from third-party developers.

On Windows, a free archiver is perfect for opening APKs 7‑ZIP. Install it, and then right-click on the desired file. In the drop-down context menu, click 7‑ZIP → “Open archive”. You can also select "Extract" and specify a folder to download the APK contents.

The same program is useful if you have Linux. On official website find the required archive with files for installation. Or run the command in a terminal. For example, on Ubuntu you need to enter sudo apt install p7zip‑full p7zip‑rar, and on CentOS and Fedora distributions - sudo yum install p7zip p7zip‑plugins.

After installation, you will be able to work with APK archives through the system’s built-in file manager or through the terminal. In the second case, two commands will be useful to you.

• To extract files: 7z x file_name.apk.
• To view the archive: 7z l file_name.apk.

On macOS they will help you work with APK archives Keka or The Unarchiver. After installing one of the archivers, right-click on the desired file and select the “Open with” option → Keka or The Unarchiver. You will be able to view the content and also extract it to the desired folder.

Using Android emulators

On your computer, you can not only open and view the APK file, but also run it and install the program. For this you will need Android system emulator. Perhaps the most popular options are BlueStacks And NoxPlayer. Both are primarily positioned as tools for games and entertainment, but are also suitable for running other useful applications on Windows and macOS.

Download one of the programs from the official website and install following simple instructions. Emulators offer to download the majority of applications from Google Play. To open a local APK file, you need to select the appropriate menu item in the control panel.

For example, in NoxPlayer there is an Apk Instl button on the right side of the window. You can also simply drag the desired APK file from the folder onto the emulator screen for quick installation. Then you can use mobile programs on your PC, just like on a smartphone or tablet. During the first launch, you must provide data Google account and confirm that it is you who are logging in.

For Linux, unfortunately, there are no direct analogs of NoxPlayer with the same convenient interface and installation of programs via Google Play. But for testing mobile applications you can use, for example, Waydroid. This tool allows you to run the entire Android system on Ubuntu and other distributions, and then download and open APK files in it, just as you would on a smartphone or tablet.

To install Waydroid on Ubuntu, enter three commands in succession in the terminal:

1. sudo apt install curl ca‑certificates -y

2. curl https://repo.waydro.id | sudo bash

3. sudo apt install waydroid -y

If you have a different distribution, take a look at Waydroid website. The developers also provided installation instructions for them.