Extract RAR Files Online
Upload a .rar file and download everything inside as a ZIP archive, with every folder and file name where it was. RAR4 and RAR5 archives, including solid ones, are extracted on our servers over an encrypted HTTPS connection, so there is nothing to install.
RAR isn't built into macOS, iOS or Windows 10, so a .rar attachment usually means hunting for an extra app. The ZIP you download opens natively in File Explorer, Finder and the iPhone Files app.
Convert RAR to ZIP in One Step
Extracting here and converting RAR to ZIP are the same job: the archive is unpacked and packed again as a standard ZIP with the same files and folder structure. Send that ZIP to anyone who can't open RAR, or upload it wherever only ZIP is accepted.
Want a smaller archive than ZIP? Extract the RAR here, then convert the ZIP to 7Z with our archive converter.
Where RAR Files Come From
- Downloads and game mods — many are still shared as .rar, often in the newer RAR5 format
- Email and chat attachments — a colleague packed a folder with WinRAR
- Old backups — RAR4 archives from years ago extract just as well
- Devices without an unpacker — a Chromebook, an iPhone or a work PC where you can't install software
How to Extract a RAR File
Choose one or more .rar files, wait until each one is done and download the ZIP. Several archives are processed one after another and can be downloaded together as one ZIP. For a password-protected archive, type the password in the Archive password field before you start; for a set split into .part1.rar, .part2.rar and so on, select all the parts at once.
RAR4 and RAR5: What's the Difference?
RAR is the archive format of WinRAR, created by Eugene Roshal. RAR5, introduced with WinRAR 5.0 in 2013, uses a larger dictionary than RAR4 and AES-256 instead of AES-128 for encryption. Both versions extract here, and the file name doesn't tell you which one you have — the first bytes of the file do.
A RAR archive can be solid: all files are compressed together as one stream, which makes the archive smaller. Solid archives extract here exactly like regular ones.
RAR can also carry a recovery record that WinRAR uses to repair small damage. If a download is damaged, run WinRAR's Repair command on it first, then upload the repaired copy.
RAR vs ZIP vs 7Z
ZIP opens on every system without extra software. 7Z is an open format with strong compression. RAR is popular for downloads, but creating RAR files takes WinRAR, which is paid software after its trial period.
For sharing files, ZIP is the safest choice; for your own storage, 7Z is a good default. RAR is mostly something you receive — and extracting it to ZIP turns it into the format everyone can open.
Privacy and Limits
Archives are uploaded over HTTPS and extracted on our servers. How uploaded files are handled is described in our privacy policy.
Free uploads are limited to 100 MB per archive, with or without an account; Premium raises the limit to 500 MB and Premium Plus to 1 GB. One archive can hold up to 10,000 files and 2 GB of unpacked data.
Related Tools
- Extract 7Z — open 7-Zip archives the same way
- ZIP to 7Z — repack the extracted files with stronger compression
- Archive converter — switch between ZIP, 7Z, TAR.GZ, TAR.BZ2 and TAR.XZ