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I'd like to be able to examine the contents of a JAR file without having to install Winzip or some other tool and without having to rename the file. Windows Explorer can open ZIP files just fine; is there some registry setting I can use to let it treat JARs like ZIPs?

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i wonder why this was migrated. why would anyone but a programmer be interested in this. – Jeff Martin Mar 22 '10 at 17:45
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migrated from stackoverflow.com Mar 18 '10 at 21:01

This question came from our site for professional and enthusiast programmers.

5 Answers

up vote 26 down vote accepted

Or from the command line:

assoc .jar=CompressedFolder
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NB: for Vista and above, you'll probably need to run the command prompt with elevated privileges i.e. as Administrator. – Mal Ross May 25 '10 at 12:45
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up vote 4 down vote

I tried exporting HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.zip, changing all references of '.zip' to '.jar' and importing it to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.jar.

Under Vista at least it let me open a .jar file as if it were a .zip.

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up vote 3 down vote

What you need to do is associate the JAR extension in Windows Explorer with Compressed folders. From Windows Explorer select tools / Folder Options. Then the Files Types tab. Select New and associate JAR Compressed (ZIP) Folder.

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up vote 0 down vote

The HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT trick doesnt work under Windows 7. There mut be some compelling reason that MSFT doesnt want us to do this.

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Worked fine for me under Windows 7. – Brannon Nov 30 '09 at 4:29
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up vote 0 down vote

The command line approached worked for me on win 7. I ran the command in an elevated prompt, but I don't know if that was necessary.

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