How to Open a RAR File
The RAR is one of the most popular compression formats out there. In fact, it has become the standard for sharing files on BitTorrent, RapidShare, and MegaUpload. People mainly prefer RAR because its compression algorithm is better than ZIP, so it creates smaller archives, and it allows you to split your file into multiple archives. ![]()
Unfortunately, Windows (or any other OS, for that matter) doesn’t support the RAR format natively. Fortunately, a few good free programs allow you to open RAR archives.
PeaZip 
If you just want to open RAR archives, then PeaZip is the best choice. Its interface is neat and intuitive, and it supports all of the important (and the not so important) compression formats out there, including RAR. And it’s free!
A good alternative to PeaZip is IZArc.
WinRAR
Since the RAR format is proprietary, the only compression client that can actually make RAR archives is WinRAR. If you want to create RAR files, then you should get WinRAR. WinRAR is shareware and a pop-up window will nag you every time you open the application, until you buy it. Unless you really want to create RAR files, I suggest you don’t get WinRAR as it supports only a few formats except RAR, and its interface is downright ugly.
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12 Responses to “How to Open a RAR File”
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I’d recommend uniextractor http://legroom.net/software/uniextract
It will extract anything, but it is not a compressor
(anything includes rar, msi, iso, zip, etc)
I would like to add 7-Zip to your list. The question ist: Can PeaZip unextract rar archives that are splitted into more then one file? 7-Zip can’t do that.
Can you maybe test that?
@ Philip – Yeah it can.
[...] How to Open a RAR File, For Free [...]
W artykule wszystko si? zgadza, ale chyba by? t?umaczony jakim? automatem…
thanksssssss
winrarrrrr
Winrar is for free from rarlabs.com
is it possible to extract from a rar file that has not yet been fully downloaded yet? (say its stuck at 90% and won’t go ahead).
Don’t forget Rarzilla. Very easy to use.
the uniextract works great thanks for the reccomendation
I downloaded a one part of movie,It is a winRAR format. but i am not able to extract file . when i tried to extract it. it will display a message ” you need a next volume of winRAR how to open that file