Good afternoon, today I will tell you and show you with examples which programs can be used to open files in the RAR format. Archivers RAR, ZIP, CAB are among the most common programs; they are surpassed only by operating systems and browsers. Why? Since most materials and programs on the Internet stored in compressed form in the archives. And to open them and extract information from them, you need to download one of the archivers.
I’ll tell you about a program that I’ve been using for a long time, ever since I bought my first computer. Called this program WinRAR and is the most popular program for opening rar archives. WinRAR is used every day by millions of people around the world to save space on their PC. Since you're wondering question "how to open rar file» , then you are probably not very familiar with this program. Below I have prepared a short instruction for you.
How to open a rar file?
First of all, you must download and install WinRAR. I have prepared a fresh and working version, which is installed on my computer. By the way, before publishing on a blog, I install all programs on my computer, check their functionality and the presence of viruses. To download WinRAR program click on the button below.
I provide a link to the developer's website. In the list of languages, select Russian and the version of the program. I make sure that you can always receive the latest versions of programs.
After downloading, double-click on the WinRAR.exe file and install the program. Installation is very fast, can be installed on top of older versions of WinRAR. This is what the main window looks like.
Now all you have to do is click “File -> Find Archive” and select the file you need with the extension “.rar”. The contents of this rar file will open, you can copy it anywhere. For example, you can simply drag files from WinRAR to your desktop.
If you have any problems or questions, please ask them in the comments below. I will definitely answer and help you. I hope I clearly explained how to open a rar file.
Often, huge amounts of information are stored and transmitted in the form of archives - this method saves disk space and significantly increases the security of the content. And if the format archives ZIP Windows 10 is capable of opening without any additional utilities, then how to open a rar file?
Only a specialized third-party tool can open such an archive. Let's look at the three most popular and effective of them, and also figure out what functionality they have.
Download and install this archiver like any other program. You can download it to your computer from the official website. Such utilities do not take up much space on your hard drive and install as quickly as possible, so you can immediately start using them. The program interface looks like this.
Let's look at all the features of this archiver point by point.
Opening and Unpacking
Of course, unpacking archived data is the main and most used function of WinRAR. The application supports a large number of formats, including RAR.
To see the contents of the archive, simply double-click on it. When installed, the program automatically associates with itself all formats corresponding to archives, so that any of them will be opened in it. You can also open it by right-clicking and selecting “Open in WinRAR”.
The opening can also be done from the program itself. To do this, go to it, click on “File” in top menu, select “Open archive” and find it on your computer.
To extract files, we carry out a simple sequence of actions:
- Select the required or, if necessary, all objects and click on the “Extract” button.
- Specify the folder into which the data will be unpacked and click OK.
- All files are extracted and placed in the specified path. You can start using them.
Consider the following function.
Creation
No less necessary useful feature. This is especially relevant when you need to compress a large amount of data into one object and send it to someone, for example, by email. You can archive both a document and an image.
To create a new object:
- We select the data that we want to combine, right-click on it and click on the “Add to archive” line.
- We set the name, select the extension type,, if necessary, configure various archiving parameters and click “OK”.
- We check the presence of the result. It must be created in the same folder in which the archived files were located.
Let's look at the last important function.
Setting a password
Undoubtedly, a huge advantage of archivers is the ability to set a unique password. WinRAR is no exception - it also allows you to encrypt any data.
It is important to remember that you will not be able to embed a password into a finished archive. You will have to unpack it and pack the existing data back, but with setting a password.
To create an encrypted archive, we carry out the same steps as when creating a regular archive, but in the settings window we click on the “Set password” button.
Enter the password twice and click OK. You can also activate the “Encrypt file names” option so that an outsider does not receive information even about them.
Now you can open a password-protected object only using the treasured combination. Without it, you will not be able to access the data. This is very convenient when the archived data is intended only for a certain circle of people.
We looked at how to open a RAR file on Windows 10 using WinRAR. Let's move on to analyzing another popular utility with similar functionality.
7-Zip
To unpack, follow the steps below:
- Select the objects and click “Extract”.
- Specify the extraction path and click “OK”.
- All data will be unpacked to the specified location and ready for use.
You can also open the archive through the utility itself. To do this, open it and look for the object directly in the work field, then open it by double-clicking.
Let's look at how to create an archive using this tool.
Creation
To archive information, we repeat the same sequence of actions as in the case of WinRAR - select the necessary files, right-click on them, point the mouse at “7-Zip” and click on “Add to archive...”.
In the window that opens, set the name of the future archive and configure parameters such as format, compression level and method, dictionary size, etc. If necessary, set a password (only the specified combination can come to the rescue to open the created object). After completing the setup, click on “OK”.
Since 7 zip is also a kind of file manager, you can find objects for archiving, if necessary, directly through the application itself.
This concludes our review of working with 7-Zip. As you can see, this archiver is in no way inferior to its more famous brother, providing the user with all the necessary functions absolutely free.
Let's take a look at the latest archiver.
Bandzip
Bandzip is an extremely easy-to-use archiver with a simple interface. The program is also provided as a portable version. Download and install the version that matches the system capacity.
Unboxing
To carry out the opening and unpacking procedure:
- Open the utility and click on the appropriate button.
The popular shareware archiver VinRAR is one of best programs for creating and managing archives on PCs, tablets and smartphones. The main advantages of the archiver: small size, support for a significant number of formats for unpacking, outstanding speed and degree of compression. Here you can download WinRAR for free for Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista, XP SP 3 (32-bit and 64-bit). Except Microsoft Windows, this cross-platform utility supports operating systems Mac systems OS X, Linux, Free BSD and Android (on Google Play and the file rar-android.apk at the office. website). You can also find outdated releases for MS-DOS, Win Mobile and ReactOS. Direct link: website/ru/file/winrar
Brief description of WinRAR
The main activity of WinRAR is packaging files, groups of files and folders with attachments into RAR 4 and 5 archives, as well as ZIP, quickly and with strong compression. It is also important to unpack RAR, ARJ, 7Z, CAB, ISO, LZH, TAR, 7-ZIP, Z, ZIP files, regular and divided into parts, and formats of other popular archivers. It is possible to collapse self-extracting (SFX) and multi-volume archives of the required size, archives encrypted using the AES-256 algorithm with a password, excluding and including data in the archive, restoring damaged archives, checking for viruses and other malicious software. SFX archives can be equipped with a GUI and script-type commands for programming the unpacking process, for example, when installing programs or games. Additional information is used to reconstruct the archive. Such data will allow you to restore both a regular broken one and a multi-volume one in the absence of entire volumes. Additional information is also added to speed up unpacking. You will need to download WinRAR for free to work with almost unlimited quantity and file size, a significant number of formats. The program downloads quickly and is easy to install, and can be integrated into the Windows Explorer context menu for accelerated access to basic functions and working with archives without launching the program.
Why it wouldn’t hurt to download an archiver for Windows
Sometimes you need to download a program, game, or e-book. Often they are collapsed into an archive, which you can open regular means does not work. This is especially true when a new Windows 7, 8.1 or 10 operating system has just been installed on your computer and is not yet fully equipped with software. In this case, the first thing you need to do after installing the Windows operating system is to download WinRAR for Windows 7, 8.1, 10. WinRAR will not take up much space on your computer and will quickly deploy any of the popular formats, even if the archive is damaged. If necessary, VinRAR will quickly and efficiently archive a file, several files or folders with files into an archive file RAR 4 or 5, or ZIP, and create a self-extracting SFX, multi-volume or password-protected archive. Advanced users also take advantage of other advanced functionality of the WinRAR archiver, which will be discussed below.
A brief history of the WinRAR archiver and the RAR format
WinRAR was created during the time of Windows 3.x, running on an operating system without a graphical shell, MS-DOS 3.1 or higher. The name is made up of the words Windows and Roshal ARchive. One letter is taken from the surname of the creator, Chelyabinsk resident Eugene Roshal. In addition to WinRAR, Evgeniy is the author of the popular file manager FAR Manager.
The RAR and UNRAR utilities for MS-DOS appeared at the end of 1993. In 2009, a more powerful 64-bit version of the program was released for Windows 64-bit with WinRAR 3.90. In 2011, from version 4.00, Windows 95, 98, ME and NT are not supported. In 2013, from version 5.00, the new RAR5 format is supported.
For those who use outdated versions that do not support the new RAR5 format, it will not hurt latest version VinRAR free download Russian for Windows. The latest RAR5 has little in common with RAR4, although it uses the RAR extension. If you download the Russian version of WinRAR 5 for free, the archiver will be able to open and pack RAR4 and RAR5, but outdated ones do not understand RAR5. The fifth PAP allows you to comment on archives, but commenting separate files unavailable, no support digital signature, experimental technologies for text and multimedia compression. The dictionary size varies from 1 MB to 1 GB (for Win x32 - from 1 to 256 MB), 32 MB is preinstalled. Multi-volume files have file names name.partNN.rar, instead of name.rNN. Instead of the outdated AES-128, AES-256 is used. When monitoring integrity, a 256-bit BLAKE2sp hash, NTFS strict and symbolic links are used. The length of file names and paths has increased to 2048 characters for both RAR and ZIP. Added support for split 7Z, as well as ZIP and ZIPX with B ZIP 2, PP Md and L Z M A compression.
WinRAR interface
The WinRAR interface is designed in a classic style and will not raise any questions for most users who decide to download the WinRAR utility for Windows for free and install it on their computer, laptop, netbook or mobile phone. If questions still arise, you can refer to the built-in help. Some users prefer to use the built-in wizard assistant in step-by-step mode. Appearance The interface can be changed by downloading and installing any theme (skin) you like. Support for about fifty language localizations, including Russian, allows you to work with archives in a software interface in your native language. The ability to download VinRAR for free in Russian on the page of this material on the site eliminates the need to translate menus, windows and settings. After downloading and installing the archiver on your computer, you can immediately start working, without spending time learning the capabilities and settings and translating the interface.
Here you can download the WinRAR archiver for free with the ability to integrate it into the operating system. Integration into Windows Explorer is convenient for those who do not want to waste time on routine operations. When you click the mouse in the Explorer window, a menu appears, using which you can collapse the archive or extract the contents to the current or specified folder. In the context menu, the following are available: automatic and manual unpacking and packaging, as well as packaging with sending by e-mail. Hotkey combinations allow you to speed up routine operations. Unfortunately, there are no scripts or macros for batch processing.
Functionality
WinRAR is characterized by high performance and powerful functionality for collapsing and managing archives. In particular, the archiver works with many current data compression formats of almost unlimited size, modern technologies encryption, protection and recovery. According to reviews and comments on specialized sites and forums, in in social networks VK, Ok, Fb, G+ and others, the following functionality of the VinRAR archiver is especially in demand:
Encoding into self-extracting, continuous archives and multi-volume volumes,
- decompression of RAR, ARJ, 7Z, 7-ZIP, ACE, BZIP2, TAR, CAB, ISO and others,
- work in a graphical interface or from the command line,
- advanced settings for advanced users,
- automatically recognizes the format and selects the optimal compression method,
- report generation,
- advanced search function,
- integrity test,
- choice of compression degree and archiving speed,
- including the necessary data to recreate the damaged file,
- collapsing SFX archives that unpack themselves,
- creation of multi-volume volumes for sending by e-mail,
- 256-bit protection against unauthorized access,
- creating and editing comments for archives (RAR in UTF-8 encoding, ZIP in Windows encoding),
- does not overload the system, does not interfere with the operation of other programs,
- 32- and 64-bit versions for maximum speed and OS compatibility,
- master assistant for creating and managing archives,
- Drag-and-drop files,
- work with skins from free developers,
- the program is multilingual, there is a Russian version,
- there are no restrictions on use after the trial 40 days.
Features of free use
WinRAR is shareware software distributed under the Shareware license. This means that 40 days from the moment the user decided to download WinRAR in Russian for free, downloaded and installed it on the PC, the program runs in a normal, fully functional mode for review, and after this period it will begin to display a message about the need to purchase a paid license from RARLab . At the end of the trial period, the functionality is not reduced, and offers to purchase a license are not intrusive, so those who do not have the opportunity to purchase VinRAR continue to use the archiver as is. Others either buy a license or can download a free archiver in Russian from another developer, for example, 7Zip, PeaZip, Bandizip, HaoZip. Mobile RAR for Android is available freely under a Freeware license.
Correlation of bit depth between OS and WinRAR
Without further delay, we recommend downloading the latest version of WinRAR for free for Windows XP SP 3, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10 (32-bit and 64-bit). It is advisable to do this because a new version WinRAR works faster than the previous one, the compression ratio has been increased, and work with archives has been improved. If it is not clear which WinRAR to download: x64 or x32 bit version, download the program of the same bit size as the Windows OS installed on your computer. This way the program will show its maximum performance. The archiver is distributed in the form of two WinRAR files x32 and x64, for installation on a computer with 32- or 64-bit Windows. To find out the Windows bit rate, you need to go to the “Control Panel” through the “Start” button and find the “System type” line in the “System” section. Based on the information received, you should download WinRAR 64-bit or 32-bit for free, depending on the type of operating system Microsoft Windows XP SP 3, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10 (64-bit or 32-bit).
During the installation process, WinRAR does not offer to install additional software or change home page browser and other promotional offers. At the end of the installation, the installer will offer to associate supported files with VinRAR and integrate its functionality into the Windows Explorer context menu.
How and with what to open a .rar file?
Despite the fact that the .rar format has long become an integral part of Windows, Linux and many other operating systems, including MacOS and Android, for many, automatic opening of the archive by double clicking the mouse does not work.
Archives on Windows
By default, Windows opens only zip archives, and to open .rar you will need to download an additional distribution.
WinRAR
This is the main application for working with .rar. Of all the popular programs, only this one can create archives on Windows, while other software can only open them.
If WinRAR is installed on your computer, then to create an archive file, just right-click on the desktop so that a menu appears asking you to create a “WinRAR Archive”.
And to open .rar, you just need to click on this file and it will automatically be opened in WinRAR, if this program, again, is installed on the computer.
It also allows you to extract files from the archive. To do this, there is an “Extract” button on the top panel.
Features of WinRAR are:
- you can create an archive of no more than 8 GB in size;
- you can add a password, email to the archive, split it into parts, block and
- perform many other manipulations;
- It is possible to correct archives that have been damaged.
This program copes well with the tasks of opening and unpacking archives in .rar format.
In addition to this format, it works with a huge number of other files - tar, gz, tb2, wim, 7z, but its main format is zip.
It is important to note that with 7-Zip and WinRAR installed, the user has the opportunity to create an archive in the 7-Zip interface, but WinRAR is still used.
Other features of 7-Zip:
- very high recording and decompression speed;
- there is its own 7z format, which, according to experts, is better than zip;
- The interface is very similar to WinRAR.
TUGZip
This program is not particularly known to many modern users. But it has many “nice” features.
Among them are the following:
- there is an editor for self-extracting archives;
- the program supports multi-archive arrays;
- classic interface for archivers;
- automatic data security check.
TUGZip also supports a huge number of formats, even more than 7-Zip.
Helpful information:
Pay attention to the program. It's made for quick recovery lost password to a data archive saved in ZIP/WinZIP, ARJ/WinARJ, RAR/WinRAR and ACE/WinACE formats.
IZArc
The main feature of IZArc is that it works not only with archives, but also with disk images, that is, with files in iso format, mdf and so on.
Features of IZArc:
- the ability to convert archives into disk images and vice versa;
- more secure encryption methods than previous programs (including AES);
- support for multi-volume and self-extracting archives.
Overall, IZArc is a very good, reliable and free tool for opening .rar files.
FreeArc
FreeArc is a completely free and open source archiver. Works with a large number of filters and compression algorithms - 11 in total.
Judging by performance tests, FreeArc works at least 2 times faster than any other modern archiver.
Its huge advantage is the ability to connect to Total Commander and FAR. Its other features are:
- it is possible to restore archives;
- automatic sorting by size, creation date or other parameters;
- ample customization options;
- automatic archive integrity check after recording.
PeaZip
Another free archiver, which doubles as a graphical shell for other archivers. It has its own unique archive format, .pea.
Supports a huge number of formats, including 7z, tar, gzip, xz, ace, chm and many others. It also has its own testing algorithm.
Hamster Free ZIP Archiver
An interesting product from Hamster Studio. It features a very non-standard interface and support for a large number of archive formats (12 pieces) and files in general.
Has a set special functions to work with by email and disk images. Also supports Drag-n-Drop technology.
Allows you not only to open, but also to create archives.
Archives in Linux (Ubuntu)
Often, Linux distributions already come with a software package specifically designed for opening .rar archives.
This is a set of free archive editors, without the usual graphical interface.
You can activate them via command line by entering:
sudo apt-get install unrar p7zip-rar
Now in file manager When you right-click on a rar archive and select “Extract here,” the rar archive will be unpacked.
You can also use unrar x [archive name] to unpack.
Often, if an archive was created in Windows, when you try to open it in Ubuntu, the encoding in the file names gets lost (this is believed to be typical for the unrar-free and rar commands).
This editor does not allow you to view anything before unpacking, convert, or generally perform various operations without a terminal.
p7zip – this is exactly the same 7-Zip, only for Linux. p7zip has a full-fledged interface, classic for archivers.
The developers are the ideologists of open source software, so all programs are free.
Here's one unverified piece of advice from the forum: use the 7zip program for Windows in Ubuntu.
Opening an archive on MacOS
For this operating system there are also versions of UnRarX, 7zX and a paid RAR utility, which, in our opinion, is extremely inconvenient to use.
All of these are analogues of the above programs for other operating systems, and they work almost identically - with their own operating features, depending on the OS.
We would advise Apple users to use the UnRarX utility for MAC OS.
Here it has a full-fledged graphical interface and is much more understandable to the average user.
There is another interesting archiver called keka - a clone of p7zip and, accordingly, 7-Zip, with minor differences.
RAR in Android and iOS
On mobile platforms, archives, including those with the .rar extension, can be opened by almost all file managers.
However, you need to install WinRAR along with them.
In most cases, all this is already installed on the phone and tablet at the moment when these devices fall into the hands of the user.
Accordingly, on a phone or tablet you can also open, create or unpack an archive, and in some file managers all this happens as if the user were opening a regular folder.
So, if you have difficulty opening an archive on your phone, use one of the popular file managers for Android and iOS.
Programs for opening .rar on Android:
ES File Explorer
One of the most popular file managers, which has perhaps the widest functionality of all - it can give root rights, monitor memory usage and much more.
Total Commander
This file manager can do about 10 times more than ES File Explorer, but these capabilities are only available to those who can understand its complex interface.
Amaze File Manager
Attracts many users with its Google-like interface. Doesn't freeze.
FX File Explorer
File manager that works well in two-window mode.
Programs for working with archives on iOS:
Documents 5.
Provides many options for searching and working with files - moving, copying, adding to an archive and much more.
FileBrowser.
Copes perfectly with the task of connecting to a remote device.
USB Disk Pro.
This file manager has many features for advanced users and file previews.
File Manager.
The best option for those who use cloud storage.
Below you can clearly see how a .rar file is opened in Windows using WinRAR.
Much of the information on the Web is stored in the form of an archive—data compressed to combine multiple files together or reduce its original size. Special programs and services are used for archiving and extraction. Most of them can open a RAR file on their computer, one of the most popular formats for Windows. And in order to work with such archives, you should choose the appropriate option.
What is RAR and how can I open it?
The abbreviation RAR stands for Roshal ARchive - after the name of the format developer file archive. The advantages of this compression technique are a significant reduction in data size, the ability to set passwords and split large files into several parts. A whole group of programs allows you to solve the issue of extracting information from the RAR format:
- WinRAR is the first and most functional application for working with archives. With its help, you can both create a RAR file and unpack it. However, you will have to pay for use - or periodically see a message about the need for payment when opening the archive.
- PeaZip is a freely distributed archiver written in Free Pascal and at the same time a graphical shell for other similar applications.
- 7-Zip is a popular utility that provides high levels of compression and archiving in its own 7z format. It copes with RAR files and dozens of other archive extensions.
- FreeArc is a free archiver for Windows and Linux, first created for 32-bit systems, but in 2017 it received support for 64-bit software and a new compression algorithm.
- WinZip - shareware paid application, which is one of the most popular ways to open a RAR file and create a new archive.
One of the best ways unpacking RAR files are online services www.online.b1.org/online and www.unzip-online.com/en, which allow you to obtain information from an encrypted file without the use of additional software. The services are free, but have certain limitations - for example, on the Unzip-online website you can extract data from archives no larger than 200 MB. Another unarchiver can be found at www.extract.me/ru – online program, which allows you to extract a file from more than 70 different formats, including RAR, ZIP and 7z. 
Opening RAR using programs
An archiver is a program that allows you to first pack one or more files into archives and then extract them. Due to the popularity of the RAR format, many applications are designed to work with it. Not everyone provides such compression - however, there are utilities that not only create archives, but also provide several compression and decompression methods.
Archiver settings allow you to associate them with archive file formats. That is, set by default in which program to open these archive formats. Different archivers have different icons on the same formats, in this case RAR. Using these icons, the user can determine which default program will open the archive by double-clicking LMB. With this type of launch, the archive will open in the archiver program window, where you can view the contents of RAR and make any manipulations. But it’s inconvenient to work with the contents of the archive this way, so it’s better to extract it for later work. 
The most popular program for opening RAR files in Windows, WinRAR, after installation allows you to perform three actions with archives - select the extraction location, extract to the same folder, and move the data to a directory with the same name. The step by step steps to open a RAR file will be as follows:
Another popular program that allows you to open a RAR file is called 7-zip. After installing the utility, a command for unzipping 7-zip also appears in the context menu; when you hover over it, a submenu with unpacking options appears, just like in WinRAR. By right-clicking on the RAR file, the user selects unpacking - and the archive is unpacked on the computer. Opening and operations can also be carried out in the program window. 
Opening a RAR archive using online services
Online services are one way to open a RAR file when the archiver program cannot be installed. This option is suitable for lazy users, or due to limitations in working with a PC, for example, when installing programs is limited. One of the most popular ways to open an archive is to use the Unarchiver service. It is located at https://extract.me/ru/ and allows you to perform the following actions:
- Download archives from PC, cloud services like Dropbox and Google Drive, and even by reference.
- Work with dozens of formats;
- Open information in an archive, divided into several parts and protected with a password.
To work with archived data, just go to home page resource and download them using one of possible ways. Click the “Select file” button, specify the path, select the archive and click “Open” or drag the archive to the marked area on the site. 
After this, a list of data from the archive appears on the screen, allowing you to download individual files by clicking on them and download everything in ZIP format by clicking on the appropriate button. The advantage of this method is online unzipping, the disadvantage is that it is impossible to download the entire folder at once, since each file will have to be saved to disk separately, but this is compensated by the fact that with Windows 7 and higher, the ZIP format is extracted using standard tools. 
What to do if RAR does not open?
Sometimes, when trying to open a RAR file on Windows 10 or other versions of the operating system, you may encounter damage to the archive or the presence of a password. In the case of a password, information can only be extracted by knowing the combination of characters or using a special program. If data is damaged, the built-in function of the WinRAR utility will help you extract files from RAR, but this is not a fact.
To try to recover information, perform the following steps:
The second method is regular unpacking using the context menu. When indicating the extraction option, select the item with manual settings. Then they check the box that will leave damaged files on the disk, giving them the opportunity to restore at least part of the information. Then press OK. 
If the archived information is password protected in operating system In Windows, the Advanced Archive Password Recovery program will help you recover them from the archive. It works with several formats, including RAR, and selects combinations with great speed, supporting search by mask or dictionary. The maximum length of passwords is not limited - but only in the paid version. Free app works with combinations of no more than 4 characters. Although sometimes this is enough to open a RAR file on Windows 7, protected with passwords like “111” or “777”.
Having met different ways Open the RAR file type in Windows, you can extract information from intact, damaged and protected archives. The best option for the user is to install the WinRAR archiver or free utility 7-zip. With their help, you can work with the RAR format, although the paid application has more functionality.
