# can't open Balena after extracting zip file

**URL:** <https://forums.balena.io/t/cant-open-balena-after-extracting-zip-file/370820>\
**Category:** Product support\
**Created:** [July 3, 2024, 1:55pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/cant-open-balena-after-extracting-zip-file/370820 "2024-07-03T13:55:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Videostar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e274bd/32.png) [@Videostar](https://forums.balena.io/u/Videostar)\
**Post date:** [July 3, 2024, 1:55pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/cant-open-balena-after-extracting-zip-file/370820/1 "2024-07-03T13:55:20Z")

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Using Ubuntu 24.04, I have downloaded the Balena zip file from the Balena website and extracted the files from the zip file into a new BalenaEtcher directory. How do I open the program ?

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**Author:** ![alanb128](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/balena/user_avatar/forums.balena.io/alanb128/32/2839_2.png) [@alanb128](https://forums.balena.io/u/alanb128)\
**Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 12:56am UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/cant-open-balena-after-extracting-zip-file/370820/2 "2024-07-04T00:56:37Z")

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Hello, just to clarify, you downloaded a balenaOS image to flash onto a device? If so, what type of device will you be using? If the device is a Raspberry Pi, you can use Etcher to flash that downloaded file to a microSD card and then boot your Pi from that card. For an x86 device, you can flash that file to a USB stick and boot the device from that.

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**Author:** ![Videostar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e274bd/32.png) [@Videostar](https://forums.balena.io/u/Videostar)\
**Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 1:57pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/cant-open-balena-after-extracting-zip-file/370820/3 "2024-07-04T13:57:33Z")

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Hi alanb128. I downloaded ubuntu-24.04-desktop-amd64.iso with the intention of making a bootable USB stick from it. I then downloaded balenaEtcher-linux-x64-1.19.21.zip to use for making the USB stick. I have unzipped the Etcher zip file but can’t figure out how to run the Etcher program. Thanks for your interest.

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**Author:** ![HansKazanistan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/43a26b/32.png) [@HansKazanistan](https://forums.balena.io/u/HansKazanistan)\
**Post date:** [October 20, 2024, 5:25pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/cant-open-balena-after-extracting-zip-file/370820/4 "2024-10-20T17:25:21Z")

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Just extract/unzip the zip file. Then open the unzipped folder “BalenaEtcher-linux-x64” and tap the file “balena-etcher” (do not confuse it with the shortcut balenaEtcher next to it). After opening balena-etcher you might get a pop-up what to do. To execute it or to execute in a terminal. Just execute it. Voila.