Why is my backup empty, or missing an app?

adb backup only includes apps that allow it: many apps, messaging and banking apps especially, opt out, and apps made for Android 12 and later are left out entirely. Such a backup can be just the header and a few small files. For photos and documents, copy them from the phone over USB instead.

How do I convert an .ab file to .tar?

Open it here and choose Save as .tar: the archive inside the backup is decrypted and decompressed as it is saved, and opens in 7-Zip, any archive program, or tar on a Mac or Linux.

What are the folders in a backup?

Each app's data sits under apps/ and its package name: f holds its files, db its databases (usually SQLite, which the SQL Playground opens), sp its settings, r other data, and a the app itself when the backup included it. Files from the phone's shared storage, such as photos, are under shared/0.

I forgot the backup password. Can it be opened?

No. The backup is encrypted with AES-256 and a key made from the password, so without it the data cannot be read, here or anywhere.

Is my backup uploaded anywhere?

No. It is read, unlocked and unpacked by your browser, so your messages, photos and app data stay on your computer.

Stays on your computer How this works

Android backup extractor: open .ab files

Open an Android backup (.ab) made with adb backup or a phone tool, see each app's files, and save them as a ZIP, a TAR or one at a time - password-protected backups included - entirely in your browser

Drag & drop an Android .ab backup here, or browse

.ab from adb backup · encrypted or not · any size · nothing is uploaded

About this Android backup extractor

An .ab file is a backup made with Android's adb backup command - and by phone tools and older versions of Android's own desktop sync that use it - holding apps' data: their files, databases and settings, and often photos and other shared storage. It is a compressed, often password-protected archive that nothing on Windows or a Mac opens, and the usual way in is a Java command-line tool (Android Backup Extractor) or a Python script.

This page reads the backup in your browser: it unlocks it with the backup password if it has one, unpacks it as it goes, and lists the files by app - so you can find one app's database or a lost note, save it on its own, or save everything as a ZIP or as the plain TAR archive inside. Even a backup of many gigabytes is read a piece at a time, and in Chrome and Edge saved straight to disk. Nothing is uploaded. It is free to use, with no account and no upload limit, and it runs entirely in your browser: nothing is uploaded, and while the page stays open, a feature you have already used keeps working offline.

What you can do

Open .ab backups from adb backup, compressed or not
Unlock password-protected (AES-256 encrypted) backups with their password
See the files grouped by app: files, databases, settings and other data, plus shared storage
Search the files and save any one of them
Convert the backup to a ZIP, or to a TAR archive (ab to tar), with every file

How to extract an Android backup

Drop the .ab file onto the page.
If it asks, type the password that was set on the phone for the backup.
Open an app to see its files, and save the ones you need - or save everything as a ZIP.

Questions

Why is my backup empty, or missing an app?: adb backup only includes apps that allow it: many apps, messaging and banking apps especially, opt out, and apps made for Android 12 and later are left out entirely. Such a backup can be just the header and a few small files. For photos and documents, copy them from the phone over USB instead.
How do I convert an .ab file to .tar?: Open it here and choose Save as .tar: the archive inside the backup is decrypted and decompressed as it is saved, and opens in 7-Zip, any archive program, or tar on a Mac or Linux.
What are the folders in a backup?: Each app's data sits under apps/ and its package name: f holds its files, db its databases (usually SQLite, which the SQL Playground opens), sp its settings, r other data, and a the app itself when the backup included it. Files from the phone's shared storage, such as photos, are under shared/0.
I forgot the backup password. Can it be opened?: No. The backup is encrypted with AES-256 and a key made from the password, so without it the data cannot be read, here or anywhere.
Is my backup uploaded anywhere?: No. It is read, unlocked and unpacked by your browser, so your messages, photos and app data stay on your computer.

For iPhone backups, use the iPhone Backup Viewer; for other archives, the Archive Toolkit.