When we talk about archiving files on a computer, the first format that comes to mind is zip. The next most popular archive format is RAR. But while it is easy to open a zip file on Windows and Mac, as there are built-in tools in both operating systems for this purpose, there is no such tool for opening a RAR file.
In case you want to open a RAR file on your Windows or Mac computer, follow the steps below.
How to open a RAR file on Windows?
As we already told you, there is no built-in tool in the operating system to open RAR files, therefore, you have to use a third-party tool to achieve this.
Among the most popular tools of this kind is WinRAR, which is the most popular mainly due to its ease of use and features.
You can download and install WinRAR from here. Once installed, you can use it to open a RAR file using the following steps:
- Go to Windows Explorer and select the RAR file you want to open.
- Right-click on the selected file/folder and select 'Open with WinRAR' to extract RAR files.
How to open a RAR file on a Mac computer?
Just like on Windows devices, on Macs, there is no option to open a RAR file without installing a application . If you want to extract the contents of such a file on Mac, there are several popular software you can try, such as The Unarchiver, WinZip, iZip, and UnRarX.
After downloading the software of your choice and installing it, you will need to perform the following steps:
- Go to Finder and select the file or folder with the .rar that you want to open.
- Right-click and under 'Open with', select the software you downloaded, e.g. 'The Unarchiver'
- The file will be extracted and you can now view its contents by simply opening it.
Extract RAR files with ease
Extracting the contents of a RAR file on Windows and Mac is easy, as you can use various third-party tools for this purpose. Similarly, you can use corresponding apps for Android and iOS.
