How to open .SKETCH files (Sketch designs) on Android, Windows and Linux

What a .sketch file is and how to open and preview Sketch designs for free on Android, Windows and Linux, see their pages and artboards, and get the images out.

Satyam Mishra6 November 20264 min read

Cover: Folders' design preview on two phones, labelled .SKETCH

The designer works on a Mac; you don’t. They send App redesign v4.sketch for you to check or build from, and on Windows, Linux or your phone it’s just a file with an unfamiliar icon. Sketch only runs on Apple computers.

Folders shows the preview image that modern .sketch files carry, plus a summary of their pages and artboards, on Android, Windows and Linux. You’ll know what the file contains before you go looking for a way to edit it.

What is a .SKETCH file?

Sketch is a vector design app for macOS, made by the Dutch company Sketch B.V. It’s built for designing app and website interfaces: screens are laid out on artboards, which are grouped into pages, with reusable symbols for buttons and other parts.

The .sketch format is more open than most design formats. Since Sketch version 43, a .sketch file is a ZIP archive containing:

JSON files describing the document, each page and its layers, plus meta.json with a summary;
an images folder holding the bitmaps used in the design, such as photos and icons;
a previews folder with preview.png, a picture of the design for file browsers.

Sketch documents this format publicly, which is one reason other apps can read it. Files saved by Sketch 42 or earlier are SQLite databases instead, and few tools outside Sketch can read them.

Sketch also keeps documents in its online workspaces. Those aren’t .sketch files on your disk until someone downloads one.

Program	Where it runs	File
Sketch	Apple computers, with a web app for viewing	.sketch
Figma	Web browser, plus desktop apps	.fig
Adobe XD	Windows and Apple computers; no longer actively developed	.xd

How to open a .SKETCH file with Folders

On Android

Install Folders from the download section (Android 7.0 or newer).
Open it and allow All files access.
Find the file, or type .sketch into the search box at the top of a folder.
Tap it.

From email, Slack or a cloud drive: Open with → Folders.

On Windows and Linux

Install Folders on Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit) or Linux.
Double-click the .sketch file in Folders.
On Windows, right-click it in File Explorer and choose Open with → Folders. The installer adds Folders to that menu for the types it opens.

What you can do with it in Folders

See the preview stored in the file’s previews folder.
Details lists the file’s name, size and date, and what meta.json says: the number of pages with their names, the number of artboards, the Sketch version that saved it and the fonts used. For a developer, the font list alone saves a message to the designer.
Share the file with someone who has Sketch or another tool that reads it.

Because a .sketch file is a ZIP, there’s one more trick: make a copy, rename it to end in .zip, and open that in Folders’ archive viewer. The images folder holds the original bitmaps used in the design, and you can extract the ones you need.

Files from Sketch 42 or earlier show No preview to show, as they have no preview Folders can read. And whatever the version, Folders can’t show individual artboards, layers or symbols, or edit anything.

Other ways to open .SKETCH files

Sketch (Apple computers only, subscription): full editing.
Sketch’s web app: once a document is uploaded to a Sketch workspace, anyone invited can view, inspect and export from it in a browser on any system.
Figma imports .sketch files, turning them into Figma designs. Some details may change on the way.
Lunacy (free, Windows and Linux) opens .sketch files directly, for viewing and editing.

Problems opening a .SKETCH file?

There’s no preview. The file is from Sketch 42 or earlier. Opening it in a current version of Sketch and saving it again updates the format.
Text looks different in Lunacy or Figma. Sketch designs often use Apple’s system fonts, which other systems don’t have. Install the fonts listed in Details, or agree on substitutes with the designer.
An imported copy doesn’t match. Figma and Lunacy translate Sketch features into their own, and some don’t map one to one. Compare the result with the preview in Folders, which is what Sketch itself saved.- There’s no file, only a link. It’s a workspace document. Ask for a download, or an invitation to the workspace and use the web app.

Questions people ask

Can I open a Sketch file on Windows? Yes. Folders shows its preview and details, Lunacy can edit it, and Figma can import it.

Can I open a .sketch file on Android? Sketch has no Android app, but Folders shows the preview and lets you share the file from your phone.

How do I convert Sketch to Figma, PDF or PNG? Import it into Figma, or export from Sketch or Lunacy. Folders doesn’t convert .sketch files, though you can pull the original images out as described above.

.sketch vs .fig: what’s the difference? Both describe interface designs. .sketch is a documented ZIP of JSON files from Sketch; .fig is Figma’s own format, which Figma doesn’t publish.