What is a .AB file?
AB is an Android backup archive made with the adb backup command.
- Did you know
- An AB file can hold an Android device’s apps and data in one backup.
- An AB file is a metadata header followed by a PAX tar archive, optionally compressed with zlib and encrypted with AES-256.
- Google deprecated the adb backup command in Android 12 and dropped it from the platform tools in 2023, steering backups to the cloud instead.
- What Analyser reads
- Inspect OS and system files: OPML subscription lists, RSS/Atom feeds, Linux .desktop launchers and systemd .service units, Apple .crash reports, Android .ab backups, Windows Task Scheduler .job, Group Policy Registry.pol, and .scr screensaver PE headers, plus identification of .DS_Store, Thumbs.db, dSYM/DWARF and shim .sdb. Scene .nfo ASCII art now opens in a CP437 viewer - see Text art above.
- Depth of analysis
- .AB is an identification-grade format: Analyser recognises it from its bytes and decodes the header metadata it carries, rather than opening it in a full viewer. Formats that do get a full viewer are marked "Full" on the formats page.
- Open a .AB file
- Drag a .AB file onto the Analyser home page (or tap to pick one). It is identified entirely in your browser - nothing is uploaded, there is no account, and it works offline once installed.