Surely many of you have encountered a .OBB file while downloading a game on your device. These files are related to the ever increasing complexity of smartphone games. In this Android beginner’s article we will explain exactly what these .OBB files are and how they are used.
What are .OBB files?
It will seem trivial to some of you, but first of all you have to specify that .OBB is a file extension (as APK can be used to mean) and that file extensions are those that allow the operating system to recognize different formats and choose the program necessary to open or work the different files. Also, in some cases the same file extension can refer to multiple formats. In the case of .OBB files, the most common format is that of data files.
What kind of data does these .OBB files contain? These files store additional information for Android games, so it is not about personal information or private data, but information that is complementary to the game such as completed levels or special features. This type of information is related to the ever-increasing complexity of games for our devices.
It must also be specified that the .OBB files are not an app in itself, but the data associated with it.
How do I use .OBB files?
One of the most interesting utilities of this type of file is to be able to modify the folders with our scores, unlocked levels or further purchases related to the game. To locate a .OBB, the easiest way is to access the OBB folder via a file explorer.
In general, to make certain games work, especially those that take up more space, you’ll first have to get the APK of the game, and then a file with game data, usually a zip file. Once this is achieved, the procedure will be as follows:
- Install the apk of the game
- Extract the contents of the SD with WinRAR or 7zip by selecting the right> open> winRAR/7zip. You will not need to rename them.
- Copy the contents of the SD extracted into/sdcard/Android/obb of the device
- Run the game.
In case you want to delete it, you will need to be careful, depending on the game some .OBB files contain the complete data, and if we delete them, we will not be able to open the game. In other cases, the .OBB simply consists of compressed data (such as .rar or .zip) that are decompressed/installed in Android/data. In this case, once extracted the .OBB file can be deleted without any side effect for the game.