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How To Open RAR Files For Free on PC

Updated on April 15, 2018

RAR Extension files

In this article I will show you how to open RAR files on Windows XP, 7 or vista using free lightweight and fast software.

The Word RAR stands for Roshal ARchive. This often questioned format is commonly called a RAR file type/extension. It is called a file extension 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.

Note that a RAR folder does not have to contain only 1 file. 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 etc).



How To Open Rar Files Without Winrar

Step 1. Download this program to open *.RAR files 7 zip. This is a free .rar file opener. Install it by following the on-screen instructions but select RAR as one of the file types to associate 7-zip with during the installation.

Step 2. All of your ".RAR" files should now 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 in the drop-down menu and then click open archive.

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

To open *.RAR files. 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 to open.



How to open Rar files 7-zip
How to open Rar files 7-zip

How to extract .rar files

Open the RAR folder as indicated above and drag the file to where you want to save it. After you select a location and the loading bar completes the file can now be opened normally since it would no longer be a *.RAR file.



How to Identify .rar file type

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

.rar file type
.rar file type

What we are looking at is the heading "Type of file:" and what comes after it. In the above photo, as indicated by the arrow the file type is RAR.

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