What program to open the rar archive. Best Programs to Open RAR Files

RAR is a high compression archive format. Let's find out what ways there are to unzip this type of file.

You can view the contents and unpack RAR archives using archiving programs, as well as some file managers.

Method 1: WinRAR

Of course, you should start with the WinRAR utility. Its peculiarity lies in the fact that it was created by the same developer (Evgeniy Roshal) who created the RAR format. The primary task of this application is to create, process and unzip the specified format. Let's see how it's done.

There is also an option to open directly from the WinRAR interface.

Launch WinRAR. In the menu, click on the inscription "File". A list of actions opens. Select the inscription in it "Open archive". Also, the above actions can be replaced by pressing a key combination Ctrl+O.

The search window opens. Using the navigation tools in it, we go to the hard drive directory where the desired RAR archive is located. Select the name and click on the button "Open".

After this, the WinRAR window will display the elements contained in the archive. If the user just wants to run a specific file without unpacking the archive, just double-click on it with the left mouse button.

The object will open in the program with which it is associated by default, but the archive itself will not be unpacked.

If you want to work with files without the need to access WinRAR or similar applications in the future, then in this case you need to perform an extraction procedure.
When the user wants to extract an element from the archive to the same folder where it is located, he needs to right-click on it. Then select the item from the menu "Extract without confirmation" or type a hotkey combination Alt+W.

If the user wants to unpack the entire contents of the archive into the directory where it is located, then to do this, you need to select not a specific file, but an icon to go to a higher level in the form of an open folder with two dots next to it. After that, activate the context menu and click on the inscription "Extract without confirmation" or use pressing Alt+W.

In the first case, the selected element will be extracted to the same folder where the archive is located, and in the second case, the entire contents of the RAR object will be extracted.

But often you need to extract not to the current folder, but to another directory on the hard drive. In this case, the procedure will be slightly different.

Like last time, if you need to unpack one element, then select it, activate the context menu by right-clicking, and check the item in it "Extract to the specified folder".

You can also replace this action with a set of keys Alt+E or by pressing the button "Extract" on the WinRAR toolbar after highlighting the name.

If you need to extract all the contents into the selected directory, by analogy with extraction without confirmation, select the icon to go to a higher level, and then click on the inscription in the context menu "Extract to the specified folder".

You can also use a keyboard shortcut Alt+E or pressing a button "Extract" on the toolbar.

After the specified steps to extract an item or all content to the specified folder, a window opens in which you should configure the path and extraction parameters. On the left side in the tab "General" There are basic settings, by switching which you can adjust the update mode, overwrite mode and other parameters. But most users prefer to leave these settings unchanged. On the right side of the program interface there is an area in which you should indicate where exactly the objects will be unpacked. After the settings are completed and the folder is selected, click on the button "OK".

After completing the last step, the procedure for unpacking the selected content into the specified folder is performed.

Method 2: 7-Zip

You can open RAR contents using another popular archiver - 7-Zip. Although, unlike WinRAR, this application cannot create RAR archives, but it unpacks them without problems.

Launch the 7-Zip application. In the central part there is a file manager, with which you can navigate the hard drive. In order to view the contents of RAR, use the specified file manager to go to the directory where the desired object with the specified extension is located. Just double-click on it with the left mouse button.

Instead, after highlighting, you can click on the key Enter on the keyboard or go through the horizontal menu to the item "File" and select a position from the drop-down list "Open".

After this, all the elements contained in the archive will appear to the user through the 7-Zip interface.

To extract the desired file, select it and click on the button "Extract" as a minus sign on the toolbar.

Then a window called "Copy". If you need to extract to the same directory where the RAR file itself is located, then just click on the button "OK" without changing any other settings.

If you need to specify another folder, then before unpacking, click on the button in the form of an ellipsis to the right of the address field.

The folder browser window opens. In the central area, go to the directory into which you want to unpack. Click on "OK".

Automatically returns to the window "Copy". As you can see, in the address field of the directory intended for storing unzipped objects, the path that was selected in the folder browser window is indicated. Now you just need to click on "OK".

After this, the selected object is unpacked into the specified directory.

Now let's see how to unpack all the contents.

Method 3: Hamster Free ZIP Archiver

Another popular archiver that can work with the RAR format is the Hamster Free ZIP Archiver program. In this application, the approach to unpacking differs significantly from the actions that we described in previous methods. Let's see how to perform this procedure with the Hamster program.

Let's launch the application. The mode switch in the left vertical menu must be in position "Open". However, it is installed in this position by default.

After that we open Windows Explorer and go to the directory where the RAR file we need is located. Select this object and, holding down the left mouse button, drag it from Conductor in the central area of the Hamster application window.

As soon as an object enters the Hamster window, it is transformed, splitting into two parts: "Open archive..." And "Unpack next...". In the first case, the object will be opened in a window and ready for further processing, and in the second, the contents will be instantly unpacked in the same directory where the archived object is located.
Let's first look at how to proceed when choosing the first option.

So, after moving the object to the area "Open archive..." the Hamster window will display all its contents.

You can also add an element for processing in a more traditional way. After launching the Hamster application, left-click on the central area where there is the inscription "Open Archive".

Then the opening window starts. In it you need to go to the directory where the RAR object is located, select it and click on the button "Open". After this, all the contents of the object will be presented in the program window in the same way as we saw above when opening by dragging.

If you need to unzip all the contents, then in this case click on the button "Unpack everything".

A window opens in which you need to specify the extraction path. Using the navigation tools, we go to the PC folder in which we want the extracted content to be stored. Then click on the button "Select folder".

The contents will be extracted to the selected directory in a folder whose name will be identical to the name of the archive.

What to do if the user does not need to retrieve all the content, but only a single element?

Now let's return to what happens if, when moving a file from Conductor add it to the area "Unpack next...".

Method 4: File Managers

In addition to archivers, some file managers support working with RAR objects. Let's see how this is done using the example of the most popular of them - Total Commander.

If you need to extract an object to a specified location, then do it as follows.

Now let's see how to unpack all the contents completely.

Of course, not all archivers and file managers that allow you to view and extract the contents of files with the RAR extension are listed above. However, we tried to focus on the most popular of these programs, the likelihood of which the user has is quite high.

How to quickly open rar archives or why do you need an archiver?

We continue the series of articles on the topic of how to open files that cannot be opened. In the previous article we looked at how you can open pdf files.

This article will talk about how to open a rar file in a couple of minutes

Files of this type are archives, or rather packed or compressed archives.

Why is this necessary? This is needed mainly to reduce the file size or, what is less common, is to collect several files into one using an archive.

Here is an example, look, in the first picture, the file “400 topics in English.doc”, not packed with an archiver, has a size of 2.7 megabytes:

But now we will pack the same file with an archiver and see how its size changes:

As you can see, the file size has decreased by 5 times!

This is a very good way to save space by creating a zipped archive

I’ll also add that you can reduce the size of the created archive even more, you just need to specify a high compression ratio in the initial settings.

But it's worth pointing out that not all file types compress so well.

Which files are good and which are not very compressible by creating an archive, you will be able to determine experimentally over time.

Okay, we discussed the method of obtaining an archive, but how are they created?

They are created very simply using a program called WinRAR

The program is small and convenient. So, where can you download the Russian version of winrar for free? You can do this by typing “download winrar” into a search engine; it’s better to try to download either from the official website or from a well-known and trusted one.

Scroll down until you find the installation language Russian, which one to choose, 32 or 64 bits, you can see about this in this article.

And if briefly about 32 or 64 bits, then you need to look at it on your computer like this:

Right-click on the “My Computer” icon on the desktop, information about your computer will appear, and it will be written there how many 32 or 64 bits your operating system has.

Click and a download window will appear:

Specify, for example, the desktop. We've all downloaded the installation file, now we run it to install the program itself:

The most common problem that prevents users from opening this file is an incorrectly assigned program. To fix this in Windows OS, you need to right-click on the file, in the context menu, hover the mouse over the “Open with” item, and select “Select a program...” from the drop-down menu. As a result, you will see a list of installed programs on your computer, and you will be able to select the appropriate one. We also recommend checking the box next to “Use this application for all RAR files.”

Another problem that our users also encounter quite often is that the RAR file is corrupted. This situation can arise in many cases. For example: the file was not downloaded in full as a result of a server error, the file was damaged initially, etc. To resolve this problem, use one of the recommendations:

Try finding the file you need in another source on the Internet. You may have luck finding a more suitable version. Example Google search: "File filetype:RAR" . Just replace the word "file" with the name you want;
Ask them to send you the original file again, it may have been damaged during transmission;

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 7zip 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.

7-Zip

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.

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, mdf format, 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.

It has a set of special functions for working with 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 the command line by entering:

sudo apt-get install unrar p7zip-rar

Now in the 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 the same way - 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.

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 Windows 10 can open ZIP archives 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 the 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 and useful function. 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, level and method of compression, dictionary size, etc. If necessary, set a password (only a given 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.