How do I open RAR files on Windows 10 for free?

If someone requests something to be sent in RAR format, or if you want to take advantage of the benefits of using a RAR format, you can use WinZip. While you can’t create RAR files using WinZip, you can create Zip files, which are similar to RAR files and have many of the same benefits. The process is easy, much the same as opening RAR files. Here are a few simple steps, that of course begin with opening WinZip.

  1. Navigate to File, then new Zip file.
  2. Select the file (or files) you want to create as a Zip folder.
  3. Under Share or save Zip create the new Zip file to the location of your choice or email it directly to your chosen recipient.

WinZip will then create the Zip file as per your instructions, and you can share it or store it as you like. The size of the archive should be much less than the sum of the individual files thanks to its high quality compression, giving you the option to upload and download it quickly.

Converting RAR Files

You don’t have to restrict yourself to RAR files when compressing multiple files into easy-to-use archives. In fact, one of the biggest strengths of WinZip is the ability to convert RAR files to other archive formats.

The formats you’ll most likely have heard of are ZIP or 7z files, which are accessible without specialist software. Converting a RAR file to ZIP lets you create archive files for users who don’t have access to WinZip. A ZIP file won’t give you access to the same encryption tools, but if the person you’re sending the file to won’t be able to open it otherwise then this may be necessary.

WinZip is a powerful RAR file converter, and converting a RAR file to ZIP is easy.

  1. Open the RAR file using WinZip
  2. Click “Unzip to:” and choose the location where you would like to save your file
  3. Select all the files that have been unzipped and compress them with WinZip to a Zip file

Encrypting & Password Protecting RAR Files

One of the biggest attractions of RAR files which makes them stand out from some other archive formats is the ability to encrypt them and protect them with passwords. This gives them considerably more protection from unintended users than other archive files, letting you share sensitive data more comfortably.

There are of course utilities that let determined users crack RAR files so they’re not completely impenetrable, but the encryption and password protection is enough to stop anyone looking around or accidentally seeing files that aren’t for them when on a shared computer.

To password protect a RAR file using WinZip, first convert the RAR file to a Zip file by following the steps above. After the RAR file has been converted, right-click on the file and select Encrypt from the menu. This will open up WinZip and present encryption and password protection options. Just remember to not leave the password in a publicly accessible location.

There is no better way to compress files for efficient and secure file transfer. Providing fast email transmission and well-organized data storage options, WinRAR also offers solutions for users working in all industries and sectors.

WinRAR is a powerful archiver extractor tool, and can open all popular file formats.

RAR and WinRAR are Windows 11™ and Windows 10™ compatible; available in over 50 languages and in both 32-bit and 64-bit; compatible with several operating systems (OS), and it is the only compression software that can work with Unicode.
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Full guide for how to open RAR files on Windows 10, Mac, iPhone, Android for free. Check how to extract RAR files with WinZip/WinRAR with detailed steps. If you are finding a way to open RAR files without WinZip/WinRAR, this post also provides some alternative RAR file extractors. To recover deleted or lost files (incl. RAR files) for free on Windows, MiniTool Power Data Recovery is top recommended. For Mac users, Stellar Data Recovery for Mac is professional to recover any deleted/lost data on Mac.

On This Page :
  • How to Open RAR Files on Windows 10 for Free
  • How to Open RAR Files on Mac for Free
  • How to Open RAR File in Mobile
  • How to Convert a RAR File
  • How to Recover Deleted/Lost Files (incl. RAR Files) for Free on Windows 10
  • How to Recover Deleted/Lost Files (incl. RAR Files) on Mac
  • Conclusion
  • What is a RAR file and how do you open it?
  • How do I open a RAR file without WinZip?
  • How do I open RAR files on Windows 10?
  • How can I extract a RAR file?

A RAR file is a compressed file or data container. It contains multiple files that have been compressed to save storage space or for easy email transfer.

If you downloaded or received a RAR file with .rar file extension, don’t worry, you can easily open it. With the help of some free RAR file extractor software, you can easily open RAR files on Windows 10, Mac, iPhone, iPad. Check below the detailed guides.

How do I open RAR files on Windows 10 for free?

WinRAR Free Download 64/32-bit Full Version for Windows 10/11

Here’s a guide for WinRAR free download 64-bit or 32-bit full version for Windows 11/10/8/7 PC. Download and use WinRAR to zip and unzip files on your computer.

Read More

How to Open RAR Files on Windows 10 for Free

In Windows 10, there are some applications that can open RAR files, among which WinRAR, WinZip, 7-Zip are the most commonly used ones.

How to Open RAR Files with WinRAR on Windows 10

Actually, RAR file is the default file format of an archive program named WinRAR. It is the default app to create a RAR archive file or open a RAR file on Windows 10.

WinRAR is a trialware file archiver utility for Windows. It is developed by Eugene Roshal of win.rar GmbH. WinRAR is not a free app, Windows users need to pay for $29 to buy the premium WinRAR. It can create and view RAR and Zip file formats, as well as unzip some other archive file formats.

WinRAR is a Windows-only program. There is an Android application available, called RAR for Android.

Step 1. If your Windows computer doesn’t come with WinRAR installed, you can go to WinRAR official download website to download and install the compatible version of WinRAR.

How do I open RAR files on Windows 10 for free?

Step 2. Then you can go to File Explorer in Windows to locate and double-click the RAR file, and it will automatically open in WinRAR.

How do I open RAR files on Windows 10 for free?

Step 3. Select the RAR folder in WinRAR Window, and click Extract To icon at the toolbar. Then select a destination path or create a new folder to store the RAR files in the pop-up window.

At last, click OK to start extracting the RAR folder. After the RAR file extraction process is finished, you can open and view the RAR files.

How do I open RAR files on Windows 10 for free?

How to Open RAR Files with WinZip on Windows 10

WinZip is also a popular file archiver and compressor for Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. It is developed by WinZip Computing. It is also a trialware which offers a 21-day free trial.

WinZip is mainly used to zip and unzip files on Windows 10, but this application also allows you to open RAR files, 7z, CAB, ISO and several other file formats. You can also use WinZip to open RAR files on Windows 10.

Step 1. Go to WinZip official download website to download and install WinZip on your Windows 10/8/7 computer. Then launch WinZip utility by clicking its desktop shortcut, or open it from Start menu.

Step 2. Then you can click File -> Open (from PC/Cloud) to open the compressed RAR file in WinZip software.

How do I open RAR files on Windows 10 for free?

Step 3. Select all the files and folders in the RAR folder, or you can select some files/folders by holding the Ctrl key on the keyboard at the same time.

Step 4. Then you can click Unzip/Share tab at the toolbar, click 1–click Unzip icon and select Unzip to My PC or Cloud. Continue to select a destination folder to save the extracted RAR files, and click Unzip button.

How do I open RAR files on Windows 10 for free?

How to Open RAR Files without WinZip/WinRAR on Windows 10 – Other Free RAR Extractors

There are some other free alternatives to WinRAR/WinZip to allow you to extract RAR files on Windows 10/8/7 with ease. 7-Zip, PeaZip, jZip, Extract Now, RAR Opener, Unarchiver are good choices.

Below we’ll introduce how to open RAR files on Windows 10 for free using 7-Zip.

How to Open RAR Files on Windows 10 with 7-Zip

7-Zip is a free and open-source file extractor and archiver since 1999. It is developed by Igor Pavlov. Its native format is 7z archive format, but it can also read and create several other archive formats like Zip, RAR, CAB, WIM, UEFI BISO files, VDI images, etc. You can use it to easily open RAR files on Windows 10 for free. This RAR file extractor is only available on Windows.

Step 1. Go to 7-Zip official download site to download the compatible version of 7-Zip software on your Windows 10 computer.

Step 2. Locate your RAR file in File Explorer and right-click on it, select 7-Zip and Click Extract files.

Step 3. In the pop-up window, you can select a path to extract the RAR to. And click OK to start extracting the RAR file to the specified destination path.

How do I open RAR files on Windows 10 for free?

How to Extract RAR File Online for Free

Another way to help you open RAR files is to use online free RAR file extractors.

Top online free RAR openers include Archive Extractor Online, Unzip-Online, B1 Online Archiver, Unrar Online, FunZip, etc.

You can use them to quickly unrar RAR files without software. Many of them not only help you open RAR files, but also open Zip, 7z, and some other archive files.

Step 1. Open the website of one of the online RAR extractors. Normally you will see an icon like Uncompress file, Click here, Unrar online, etc. at the home page of these sites. Click that icon to select the archive RAR file you want to uncompress to upload it.

Step 2. Wait a few seconds to let the extracting process finish. Then you can browse through the files and download all or part of the files you need to your computer.

Tip: If you emphasize much on the privacy and security of your files, you can use 7-Zip, WinZip, WinRAR or other desktop software to open your RAR files, instead of turning to an online RAR file opener. Still, some online RAR file extractors also have a limit on the size of the file you can upload. If you can’t unrar large files online, you can also turn to desktop RAR openers.

How to Open RAR Files on Mac for Free

If you are using a Mac computer, there aren’t as many choices as on Windows for opening a RAR file. However, there are still some choices. The Unarchiver is great tool to help you extract RAR files on Mac for free.

The Unarchiver, top free unarchiving software for macOS, enables you to extract RAR files and files from numerous archive formats like Zip, Zipx, 7z, Tar, Gzip, Bzip2, CAB, EXE, ISO, MSI, and more.

Step 1. Go to The Unarchiver official site to download and install this tool on your Mac computer. It supports macOS 10.7 or later. Then launch it to select the archive file types you can use The Unarchiver to open.

Step 2. Then you can open Finder app on Mac, find your RAR file from the left side of the Finder window, and select it.

Step 3. Click File menu and click Open with in the drop-down list. Select The Unarchiver.app to open the RAR file with The Unarchiver software.

Step 4. Then select a folder from the left column to set as the destination to store the extracting RAR file. And click Extract button to convert the RAR file to accessible folder in the destination path. Once it’s completed, you can open the extracted folder like a regular folder and view the content in it.

Some other free RAR openers like Keka, RAR Extractor Free also allow you to easily open RAR files on Mac.

How to Open RAR File in Mobile

Below we’ll introduce how to open RAR files on iPhone and Android mobile phones. You need to download third-party unzip software to extract RAR files on iPhone, Android.

How to Open RAR Files for Free on iPhone

To open RAR, Zip, 7z files on iPhone, you can use iZip – a top free extracting software for iOS devices.

Step 1. You can download iZip from the App Store on your iPhone iPad, and launch it.

Step 2. Next you can select Document Browser in iZip and find the RAR file you want to open. Click the RAR file and click Yes in the pop-up window to import the archive files to the Files folder in iZip.

Step 3. In the pop-up alert, click OK to unzip all files from the RAR archive file.

Besides, Unzip is also an easy-to-use zip file opener for iOS devices to allow you to extract RAR, Zip, 7z, TAR, GZIP and some other compressed files.

How to Open RAR Files for Free on Android

Sometimes you may need to open and view RAR files on Android devices. To view RAR files on Android, you also need a third-party RAR file extractor for Android.

The best 5 free RAR file extractors for Android are RAR, WinZip, ZArchiver, B1 Archiver, ES File Explorer. Check below how to use RAR app to open and extract RAR file on Android.

Step 1. Download and install RAR for Android from app store on your Android phone.

Step 2. Open RAR app and you can see a list of files and folders. Find and click the RAR folder you’d like to open to view the contents in it.

Step 3. Then you can open and view the individual files in the RAR folder on Android.

Step 4. If you want to extract the files from RAR archive, you can select the files one by one or tap the square with four smaller squares inside icon to select all files in the RAR folder. Then tap the Up arrow icon to open Extraction options window.

Step 5. Tap Browse icon to select a destination path to store the extracted files, and click OK to extract RAR files on Android phones.

RAR for Android also allows you to create RAR files on Android, and can repair corrupted RAR files.

How to Convert a RAR File

If you want to convert RAR to Zip file, there are some RAR file converters to help you achieve it. PowerISO, Zamzar RAR to Zip, CloudConvert RAR to Zip, Convert.Files RAR to Zip, Convertio RAR to Zip Converter may be able to help you convert RAR files to other file formats.

How to Recover Deleted/Lost Files (incl. RAR Files) for Free on Windows 10

No matter you mistakenly deleted a RAR/Zip file, or suffer huge data loss on your Windows computer due to system crash, malware/virus infection, hard drive failure, etc. you can easily recover deleted/lost data and files on Windows 10 for free.

MiniTool Power Data Recovery Free, the best free data recovery software for Windows 10/8/7, enables you to recover deleted files and lost data from local hard drive, external hard drive, SSD, USB, SD card (fix my phone SD), etc. in 3 simple steps. Extremely easy-to-use and 100% clean freeware.

Free download and install MiniTool Power Data Recovery on Windows 10/8/7 computer, and follow the step-by-step guide below to recover data for free.

Free Download

Step 1. Launch MiniTool Power Data Recovery, and choose where you want to recover data from. Here we take recovering data from PC as example, so we choose This PC in the left pane.

Step 2. Next you can click one partition in the right pane, and click Scan button to start scanning data on the chosen partition.

Step 3. After the scan process is completed, you can check the scan result to find needed files. You can utilize the advanced features like Filter, Find, Show Lost Files, and Preview to quickly find the target files. Check needed files and click Save button to set a destination folder to store the recovered files. To avoid data overwriting, you should specify a path different from the original file path.

How do I open RAR files on Windows 10 for free?

How to Recover Deleted/Lost Files (incl. RAR Files) on Mac

Stellar Data Recovery for Mac lets you recover any deleted/lost files from Mac computer or other drives like external HDD, SSD, USB, SD card. It combines file recovery and file repair into one program. You can use this tool to recover files as well as repair corrupt videos and photos.

It provides three editions and each edition offers a trial version. The premium edition supports photo and video repair. You can go to its edition comparison page to check their differences and choose a preferred edition, or go to MiniTool download center to download the premium edition. Below is the guide for how to recover deleted/lost RAR files on Mac with this tool.

Step 1. Launch Stellar Data Recovery for Mac. Choose what types of data you want to scan and recover. Here we only choose Documents to get ready to recover RAR files.

Step 2. Choose a location or drive you'd like to scan for deleted/lost RAR files.

Step 3. Once the scan is completed, you can check the scan result, find wanted RAR/Zip files and click Recover button. Select a preferred destination to store the recovered RAR/Zip files and click Save button.

How do I open RAR files on Windows 10 for free?

Conclusion

To sum up, this post introduces some top RAR extractors for Windows/Mac/iPhone/Android and provides detailed guides for how to open and extract RAR files on Windows 10, Mac, iPhone and Android. As for RAR file extracting, if you have better ideas, please do not hesitate to share with us.

Still have problem with how to open RAR files or recover RAR files on Windows or Mac? You can contact [email protected] for professional tech support.

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How do I open RAR files on Windows 10 for free?

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Alisa is a professional English editor with 4-year experience. She loves writing and focuses on sharing detailed solutions and thoughts for computer problems, data recovery & backup, digital gadgets, tech news, etc. Through her articles, users can always easily get related problems solved and find what they want. In spare time, she likes basketball, badminton, tennis, cycling, running, and singing. She is very funny and energetic in life, and always brings friends lots of laughs.

What free program opens RAR files for Windows 10?

WinZip opens and extracts RAR Compressed Archive Files—and many more formats.

How do I open a RAR file on Windows 10 without WinZip?

Right-click any RAR file, point to the “7-Zip” menu, and then select one of the “Extract” options, depending on where you want to extract the files.

How do I unzip a RAR file for free?

The 10 Best Tools to Open RAR Files.
WinZip. As its name implies, WinZip is typically used to open ZIP files. ... .
WinRAR. WinRAR is one of the most popular unarchiving software. ... .
PeaZip. PeaZip is a free tool that supports major archive formats, including 7Z, CAB, and XAR. ... .
7-Zip. ... .
B1 Free Archiver. ... .
The Unarchiver. ... .
IZArc. ... .
Bandizip..

Does Windows 10 support RAR files?

rar files are not natively supported by Windows, and that another software is required to open them.