How To Open RAR Files For Free | Open RAR Extension With Free Software

In this article I will show you how to open RAR files on windows xp, 7 or vista using free, lightweight and of course, virus clean software.

The Word RAR stands for Roshal ARchive.This often questioned format is commonly called a RAR file type/extension. Why file extension? Simply because it is found at the end of file names, and is seen as an 'extension' to the length of the name of the file. There are also other file types/extensions, such as pdf, zip, doc, xml etc, but I will only be discussing one (1) in this article.

Note that a RAR folder does not have to contain only 1 file. This is because the rar format or file extension is like a folder where files are stored. The major difference between a RAR and a normal folder is that in a RAR folder the files are compressed to make them smaller for either emailing, or to fit on a storage device (cd, dvd, flash drive, floppy disk etc). The RAR extension is also very similar to the zip extension.

Right click on the file in question and select PROPERTIES. A new window will open. This window is shown in the picture below.

What you are interested is after the heading TYPE OF FILE:. What comes after tell you the type of your file. In the above photo, as indicated by the arrow the file type is RAR.

Step 1. Download the program 7 zip from the hyperlink (blue text). 7zip is a free program to open rar files. Install it by following the on screen instructions and be to select 'rar' as one of the file types to associate 7-zip with during installation.

Step 2. All of your RAR files should have a 7z in their thumbnails after installation, if they don't as yet, don't worry.

Step 3. Right click your RAR file.

Step 4: Move your mouse onto 7-zip then click Open archive and Walaa! Your RAR file shall be opened right before your eyes!

Step 3.1 If the 7-zip option is not available follow this procedure:

Right click your RAR file and move your mouse onto 'Open With' and select '7-zip file manager' and your file should open.

OR

Step 1. Open 7-zip

Step 2. Search for wherever you saved your file by using one of the three headings (Computer, Documents, Network). For example click Documents if you saved the file in 'My documents' or in a folder in 'My documents'.

Step 3. When you find the file or folder, double click it and it will open.

To decompress RAR files, open the rar folder as indicated above and drag the file to where you want to save it (file can be opened normally after this is done since it would no longer be a rar file).

I hope this tutorial on how to open rar files for free was easy to understand and benefited you. Glad to help!!