How to open a .riv file
Got a .riv file from a designer — or exported one yourself — and need to see what's inside? You don't need the Rive editor or any install. A free, browser-based .riv file viewer can open, play and inspect it in seconds.
Open your .riv file now — free, no sign-up →What is a .riv file?
A .riv file is the binary runtime export of the
Rive editor — the format your app actually ships. It packs artboards,
animations, state machines and view model (data binding)
definitions into a compact file that Rive's runtimes play back on the web, iOS, Android,
Flutter and game engines. It is not the editable source file: edits happen in the Rive editor,
which then exports a fresh .riv.
Open a .riv file in 4 steps
- Open the viewer. Go to rive.best — free, no sign-up or install.
- Drop your .riv file. Drag it anywhere onto the page, or click the dropzone to browse. Nothing is uploaded — the file stays in your browser.
- Choose an artboard and state machine. Pick them from the sidebar; the first ones are selected automatically.
- Play and inspect. Watch it render, fire view-model triggers, flip booleans, follow the event log, and mutate every data-binding property live.
Preview a Rive animation without the editor
The Rive editor previews your work while you design. But once a file is exported, what matters is how the runtime build behaves — the artboards, state machines and View Model Instance properties your code will integrate against. Opening the exported .riv in a runtime viewer shows you exactly what ships: ideal for designer→developer handoff, QA before integration, and checking files from a client or marketplace.
Will my file be uploaded?
No. The viewer parses the file with the Rive WebAssembly runtime inside your browser — opening a file never touches a server. (The only exception is the optional Share button, which explicitly uploads a file to create a link.) That makes it safe for unreleased work and NDA-covered files.
Frequently asked questions
Can I open a .riv file on Windows, Mac or Linux?
Yes. Because the viewer runs entirely in the browser via WebAssembly, any OS with a modern browser works — Windows, macOS, Linux, even Android and iOS. There is nothing to install.
Can I edit a .riv file?
Not directly — .riv is Rive's compiled runtime format, not the editable source. Design changes happen in the Rive editor, which exports a new .riv. You can, however, mutate runtime values (inputs, data-binding properties) live in the viewer to test how the file behaves.
Why does my .riv file look wrong in some players?
Different players use different render backends. Rive's two primary web renderers are Canvas2D and WebGL2 (the Rive Renderer), and some newer features — like feathering and certain advanced effects — only render correctly on WebGL2. The rive.best viewer lets you switch between both renderers with one click, so you can check how your file looks on each.