How to back up the APK of an installed app

Why keep a copy

Google Play only offers the latest version. If an update breaks something, the only way back is a copy of the previous build, either from a mirror's version history or from your own backup. Exporting takes a minute and needs no root.

On the phone

SAI (Split APKs Installer): Backup/Export › select the app › Export. Writes an .apks file containing the base and all splits, which SAI reinstalls later on any device with the same CPU.

App Manager (F-Droid): long-press an app › Backup/Restore. It can save the APK alone or, with root, the app data as well.

File managers such as Solid Explorer or MiXplorer list installed apps and copy their APKs. For apps installed as bundles, they export only the base APK unless the manager understands splits; check the export size against the installed size.

Note that Android 14 and later block ordinary apps from reading other apps' code directories on some devices; the tools above use the package manager API, which still works.

From a computer

1. adb shell pm path <package name> prints one or more paths under /data/app/.
2. adb pull <path> . copies each file. Pull every path listed; a bundle has base.apk plus split_*.apk.

Reinstall later with adb install (single file) or adb install-multiple (bundle).

What the backup does not contain

• App data (logins, settings, saves). Android does not let apps read other apps' data. Use the app's own export or cloud sync.
• OBB expansion files. Copy the Android/obb/<package> folder separately.
• The right to a downgrade. Reinstalling an older backup over a newer installed version still requires uninstalling first.

Where mirrors fit

If you did not keep a backup, the version history on an app's page here lists earlier builds with their version codes; those files are the same packages developers published. See how to downgrade an app.