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AAB (Android App Bundle) file format

.aab  ·  package (ZIP variant)  ·  introduced 2018 by Google

What is a AAB (Android App Bundle) file?

AAB (Android App Bundle) is the format Google requires for new Play Store submissions since August 2021. It is a ZIP-based publishing format from which Google generates per-device APKs, keeping installed app size much smaller than a universal APK.

Most readers reach this page after double-clicking a .aab file and finding their operating system unsure what to do with it. The good news: AAB (Android App Bundle) is a well-understood format with mature tooling on every major platform. It is supported in one click by mainstream archivers on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

How to extract a AAB (Android App Bundle) file

Opening a .aab file is straightforward on every modern operating system. The exact steps depend on which platform you are on:

On Windows

  1. Locate the .aab file in File Explorer.
  2. Right-click the file. If you have 7-Zip installed, choose 7-Zip → Extract Here. On Windows 11 the built-in extractor handles ZIP, 7z, RAR and several other formats directly through Extract All…
  3. If prompted, pick a destination folder and click Extract.
  4. The extracted files appear in a folder next to the original archive.

On macOS

  1. Find the .aab file in Finder.
  2. Install The Unarchiver from the Mac App Store, or Keka for both creating and extracting.
  3. Right-click the file → Open With → The Unarchiver (or just double-click after Unarchiver is set as the default).
  4. The extracted folder appears next to the archive.

On Linux

  1. Use your file manager: right-click the archive → Extract Here (file-roller on GNOME, Ark on KDE).
  2. On the command line, run one of: 
    7z x archive.aab    # works for almost any format
  3. The files appear in the current directory.

How to create a AAB (Android App Bundle) file

To pack files into a .aab archive, you typically need an archiver that supports writing this format. Not every tool can create every format — for example, only WinRAR can create real RAR files. The sidebar lists the software known to read and write AAB (Android App Bundle).

On the command line, the canonical create command is:

# Use 7-Zip, PeaZip, or the format's reference tool to create .aab files.

If you regularly create archives at scale, a dedicated archive automation suite can wrap this command in scheduled jobs, integrity checks, and offsite replication.

Strengths

  • Smaller installed size per device
  • Dynamic feature delivery
  • Asset packs

Weaknesses and limitations

  • Cannot be installed directly on a device — must be split via bundletool
  • Tied to Play Store ecosystem

Typical use cases

  • Google Play submission

Technical details

AAB (Android App Bundle) uses the ZIP + protobuf manifest algorithm and is identified on disk by the magic byte sequence 50 4B 03 04. The standard MIME type is application/x-authorware-bin. The format is an open specification and is free for any use.

Frequently asked questions

Is AAB (Android App Bundle) safe to open?

Archive files are containers — they are only as safe as what they contain. A .aab from a trusted source is fine; one received from a stranger can hold malicious executables, scripts, or files engineered to exploit bugs in your archiver. Always keep your archiver updated, and never run unknown executables that come out of an archive. A safe workflow is to extract into a sandbox and scan the contents before opening anything.

What is the maximum file size?

Modern ZIP-based formats use the ZIP64 extension to support archives larger than 4 GB and individual files larger than 4 GB, up to 16 EB in theory. Older tooling that does not understand ZIP64 will report a corruption error on such files.

Can I password-protect a AAB (Android App Bundle)?

Some archivers can wrap AAB (Android App Bundle) files in an encrypted container, but the format itself does not always include built-in encryption. Check your archiver's documentation.

How does AAB (Android App Bundle) compare to other formats?

See our format comparison pages such as ZIP vs 7z, ZIP vs RAR, and tar.gz vs tar.xz for side-by-side feature tables.

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