Windows 10 comes fully equipped to deal with files compressed using the ZIP archive format. You can easily preview and extract the contents using File Explorer. However, you might come across RAR archives from time to time, and that’s where things get messy.
You must have wondered how RAR files differ from ZIP files. While both are file archivers, RAR is a proprietary compression technology developed and maintained by RARLAB. Therefore, Windows 10 has no native support for the format.
Therefore, if you download a RAR file, it is impossible to open, let alone extract its contents, without a compatible third-party program. Below you will find four free tools that can help you with this. Lets start.
1. WinRAR
WinRAR is a file compression and extraction tool developed by RARLAB itself. In addition to the RAR format (which is somewhat obvious), ZIP, 7Z, CAB, ISO, JAR, etc. It also supports many other compression formats.
Fly: WinRAR offers a generous 40-day trial, but the program doesn’t enforce it as a rule. Thus, you can continue to use it for as long as you want without paying.
After downloading and installing WinRAR, you can extract RAR archives in many different ways. The easiest is to right-click a RAR file and select the Extract Here contextual menu option. This should immediately extract the content to the same location. Alternatively, you can use the Extract Files option, which prompts you to choose a directory to extract the files.
Besides, WinRAR also allows you to preview and extract selected files from RAR archives with Open with WinRAR option. In the WinRAR window that opens, you can navigate through the RAR archive and extract the selected files using the Extract menu button. You can open files in their default programs without extracting them if you want; To do this, simply double-click a file.
Besides that, WinRAR can be incredibly useful if you want to create RAR archives. Right click on the file or folder you want to compress, choose Add to Archive and choose an archive format (RAR, RAR4 and ZIP).
Note: RAR4 is the old version of the RAR archive file format. Use it if you’re worried about compatibility issues.
Then choose a compression method such as Store, Normal or Best (which determines the file size) and click OK. You can also add files to existing RAR archives using the Add button in the menu bar during preview.
2. 7-Zip
7-Zip is an open source program that supports various compression standards such as 7Z, TAR, WIM, and ZIP. But unlike WinRAR, it does not let you compress RAR files. It lets you extract them and everything works similarly to WinRAR for that matter.
After installing 7-Zip, you can extract RAR files by right-clicking on a RAR archive, pointing to 7-Zip and selecting Extract Here and Extract Files.
You can also use the Open Archive option to preview the RAR archive and extract the selected items in it, just like with WinRAR.
3. Remove Now
If you don’t want the extra bells and whistles in WinRAR or 7-Zip, consider using ExtractNow. It is an incredibly small utility that lets you easily extract multiple RAR archives at once. The program also supports ZIP, 7Z, CAB, etc. It supports various other formats as well.
Download and install the tool (it’s completely free) and you can drag and drop multiple RAR archives into the ExtractNow window to prepare them for extraction.
Then it’s a simple matter of clicking Extract and choosing a location to extract the RAR archive (or archives).
Additionally, you can enter the ExtractNow Settings pane and configure a number of settings to configure how the program works. For example, you can switch to the Explorer tab and add a contextual menu option that allows you to instantly extract RAR archives (including other supported formats).
However, as the name suggests, ExtractNow only lets you extract compression archives. It won’t let you create them.
4. Archive Extractor
Unlike the tools you mentioned above, Archive Extractor is an online-only extraction tool. It lets you upload RAR archives and redownload them in extracted form, making it perfect for one-off samples.
After visiting Archive Extractor, select Select File to upload files from your computer or cloud storage services Google Drive and Dropbox. It also supports URLs; this means you can paste any downloadable link into a RAR archive and download it immediately in extracted form.
Warning: Due to privacy and security concerns, you should not upload any RAR files that contain sensitive or confidential data.
Extraction Successful
The RAR format has been around for years, but unlike ZIP, it never went mainstream due to its proprietary nature. But its superior compression capabilities mean you’ll run into RAR on a regular basis, especially if you download a lot of stuff from the internet. Just have WinRAR, 7-Zip or Extract Now (or bookmark Archive Extractor in your web browser) and you’ll never have to worry about another RAR file again.
Next: Do you use iPhone or iPad? Here is how to extract ZIP files without relying on any third party apps or services.
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