How to Open a DEB File with 7-Zip on Windows

Written by Darlene Antonelli, MA

Last Updated: September 13, 2021

DEB files are file extensions that usually contain Unix installation information, like an archive (or .zip) for installation and an archive (or .zip) of the application's data^{[1]
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Research source}. If you're not using the appropriate system, like Linux, you can use programs like 7-Zip to open the .deb file and see its contents. This wikiHow teaches you how to open a DEB file to view its contents on a Windows PC.

Steps

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1
Download 7-Zip from https://www.7-zip.org. 7-Zip is a free tool you can use to view the files inside of the DEB package. If you have 7-Zip already, skip this step.
- Click to download either the 32-bit X84 or 64-bit x64 file. A File Explorer window will appear for you to choose the download location. Click Save when you are ready to download the software.
- Click the downloaded .exe file when it's finished downloading, then click Allow changes if prompted and click Install. You will see a progress bar as the installation progresses. Finally, click Close to close the installation wizard.
It should be under the "Recently Added" header in your Start menu.

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This program works just like the native file manager on your computer.
It will highlight in blue.
This is at the top of the window and looks like a blue minus button, -. A window will pop up with options such as extraction location.
The files inside the .deb file will extract into the location you specified in the previous step.