How to open FB2 file – 10 ways

September 9, 2022 Henry Jackson 0 Comments

How to open FB2 file: When reading e-books, almost all users come across the FB2 format, so they have questions: how to open a file of this format on their device. You can solve the problem using applications that support opening files in the “.FB2” format.

FictionBook (FB2, “Fiction Book”) is an e-book format formed as an XML document, where each element is described by tags. The FB2 format is designed to be compatible with different devices and other formats.

In the format with the extension “.FB2” a huge number of books are stored, mainly fiction. In the countries of the former USSR, the FB2 format has become a kind of standard for storing electronic books.

Let’s figure out how to open FB2 on various devices running different operating systems. To open e-books, depending on the device, the user can use the program, online service, browser extension.

FB2 files are often distributed as a compressed ZIP archive with “.fb2.zip” or “.fbz” extensions. Some applications and most e-books (readers) support reading directly from a compressed archive, without the need to unpack the book.

In this guide, I will talk about some popular programs with which you can open an FB2 book. Even if there is no application on a PC or on a mobile device, the user will still have ways to open a book saved in FB2 format.

This format is supported by most devices – electronic books for reading (readers or book readers), focused on our market. They have built-in tools for opening different types of e-book files.

Table of Contents

How to open FB2 file

If the user has a question about how to open FB2 on a computer, the problem can be solved using software that supports files of this format.

Many programs support work not only in the Windows operating system, but also in other operating systems, including mobile ones. In the table, I have collected some applications so that the user himself can decide which program to open the FB2 file, based on the installed operating system on a particular device: computer, smartphone or tablet.

Popular programs for reading books in FB2 format (table):

Program	Windows	macOS	linux	Android	iOS
FBReader	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Caliber	Yes	Yes	Yes
AlReader	Yes			Yes
coolreader	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Ice Book Reader	Yes
STDU Viewer	Yes
Balabolka	Yes

The user can choose one universal solution or several specific applications for different types of devices, depending on their needs or tastes. Some developers develop applications for mobile devices, while PC versions have not been updated for a long time. Others specialize in versions that run on the Windows operating system.

First, let’s figure out how to open an FB2 file on a computer using programs, and then we’ll look at reading books in browsers, on an online service, or on an Android device.

FBReader

The free FBReader program is a universal tool for reading e-books on different devices. The program supports all major operating systems: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS.

In addition to FB2, the program supports some other file formats. The user needs to add the e-book file to the library to be opened in the program.

Caliber

Caliber is a free program for creating and storing an electronic library. With Caliber, you can store e-books, convert files to other formats, read books. The program supports a large number of text formats.

The application has a built-in e-book viewer with which you can read books on your PC.

coolreader

The free CoolReader program runs on most of the most common operating systems. Cool Reader has the most complete support for the FB2 format.

The program supports other text formats, there is a function to play the test aloud.

ICE Book Reader

ICE Book Reader is a program (free for residents of the countries of the former USSR) for reading books on the Windows operating system. The application has functions for creating a library, there are 5 reading modes, support for reading aloud using a voice engine, you can export the text of a book to a video or audio file from the program.

In this image, the FB2 file is open in Ice Book Reader Pro.

STDU Viewer

STDU Viewer is a program for viewing text and graphic file formats that supports files in the FB2 format. The application runs on the Windows operating system.

The STDU Viewer program will help the user open the FB2 file without any problems.

Universal Viewer

Universal Viewer is a program that opens FB2, along with other files in a huge number of formats. This is a universal file viewer that opens electronic documents, books, videos, images in its window.

This is the case when one program is suitable for opening files of different formats without installing many applications on a PC.

Opening FB2 with a browser extension

The FB2 format can be opened in a browser without the help of other programs. To do this, you need to install an extension (add-on) in the browser that adds this feature to the Internet browser.

The StormFiles extension has been created for the Google Chrome browser, with which you can open files of text and some graphic formats directly in the browser window, without installing additional programs on your computer.

To open an FB2 file, do the following:

Click on the extension icon located on the top bar of the browser.
In the browser window that opens, click on the “Open File” button to view the file from your computer, paste the link to the file from the Internet into the appropriate field, or simply drag and drop the file into this window.

In the Mozilla Firefox browser, you can use the FB2 Reader extension , which opens FB2 files in the browser. The extension allows reading files in “*.fb2” and “*.fb2.zip” formats directly in the browser window.

After activating the extension, drag the e-book into the browser window, or open the FB2 file using Mozilla Firefox.

How to open FB2 in Yandex Browser

In Yandex.Browser, developers have added support for many default text formats in the program, which is very convenient.

To open an e-book in FB2 format, among the proposed programs, select Yandex Browser as the program for opening files of this type. In an open browser window, you can create a bookmark or save the book to your computer if the file is viewed from the Internet.

On my computer, Yandex Browser is used as the default program to open FB2 files.

Advice. If you urgently need to open an e-book in FB2 format on your computer, and there is no suitable program at hand, you can easily deal with this situation. Rename the file extension from “.fb2” to “.html” and then open this file in any browser. Thus, you will be able to read the desired book without problems.

How to open FB2 on Android

There are a large number of applications for opening FB2 files in the Android operating system. You can use some of the programs described above that have versions for Android, or other applications, such as FullReader or AlReader.

On my site there is an article describing reading programs that work on Android.

Opening the FB2 format on the online service

The Omni Reader service is a browser-based online reader. Among others, the service supports opening the FB2 format, as well as a compressed file of this format. The online service allows you to open a book in FB2 format on the Internet, without using any applications on your computer. You only need a browser to access the site.

To open an e-book, the user needs to paste the URL of a file from the Internet into the paste field, or upload the file to the service from a computer disk, or paste from the clipboard.

Article Conclusions

In case the question arises which program to open FB2, the user can use several methods, depending on which device he is using at the moment. To open e-books, you can use programs for a computer or applications for mobile devices.