Free RAR Extractor List
What’s with all the people asking how to open RAR files? Sure, RAR is a very good archiver offering nice file compression ratio; it’s actually the archiver I use and there are probably several .rar files to be found even on this site. But the real popularity of .rar files probably comes from BitTorrent. Many torrents are compressed with WinRar, so you get people asking for a RAR extractor.
It might seem like an obvious solution to just download the original WinRar software, but RAR is shareware and not everyone can endure the nag-screens or buy the full version. So today I’ll tell you how to open RAR files using only free software – no matter what your operating system is.
RAR Extractor For Windows
My freeware .rar extractor of choice is certainly 7-zip (download page). Once you install it, you can simply right-click a RAR file and choose 7-zip -> Extract here to extract it. 7-zip also handles multi-volume (”spanned”) archives – just make sure you click the first volume when telling it to extract. 7-zip is completely free – in fact, it’s open source.
RAR Extractor For Linux
There’s a good tutorial describing in detail how to install and use the unrar command on various versions of UNIX-based operating systems – Open rar file or Extract rar files under Linux or UNIX. I’ve heard there’s also a Linux version of 7-zip that you could use for opening .rar files – check their site.
… And For Mac
UnRarX is what Mac OS users can employ to open RAR files. Not only a .rar extractor, UnRarX can also restore corrupted and missing archives.
In conclusion
So there you have it – RAR extractors for every popular operating system. Feel free to send the whining BitTorrent junkies to this page if someone asks “how do i open this file!??one!?” again 
[...] free WinZip alternatives and .zip software in general – this will complement my recent post about RAR extractors [...]
[...] On a side note, it’s possible to get all the aforementioned benefits of DAA files by simply archiving the ISO disk copy with WinRAR. This is why you may often see .rar files in BitTorrent downloads (additional information – how to deal with RAR files). [...]
[...] you by Janis Elsts, an experienced computer programmer. Janis has also put together a list of free RAR extractor applications that you can use to extract .rar [...]
Free Zipeg for Mac OSX and Windows:
http://www.zipeg.com
PeaZip is another open source freeware that features extraction of RAR archives.
It’s available for Windows and Linux, on both platforms either as installable package or as portable software (not needs installation).
Okay, this is nice, however it’s asking me for a password when I try to extract the files and I can’t find any such password on the download page for this product, or the previous page which led me to it. Can you provide me with this password? Thanks so much, if you can. Regards, Brad
If the RAR file you’re trying to extract is password-protected… there isn’t anything I can do about it. You will need to find the password.
how do i extract files from an rar. file when its password protected (on a mac running leopard) i know the password but when i double click on the folder it doesnt give me the option of entering it?!
any help much appreciated guys either on here or email me harrisonchidlow@gmail.com
thanks
Harrison : Did you read the post at all? UnRarX can handle password-protected archives. So can Zipeg. RTFM.
thanks for the reply, i have UnRarX and it doesnt give me the option when i double click it just tries to extract them without giving me chance to enter a password, so obviously they do not extract at all.
thanks for the reply, any help or ideas much appreciated!
Let me quote from the UnRarX FAQ page :
how do i extract rar file, iam downloading from torrent…….winrar not extract…
Maybe the RAR file has been corrupted? WinRAR should always work with valid RAR files.
this site saved my life. continue being amazing
what about Free rar Extract Frog
The diagnostic screen says, “invalid or corrupt authenticity information” for every file. The files won’t get extracted. It works for other files. Anyway around that?
I haven’t encountered this error myself so I did a bit of searching. It appears that there are not a lot of options for fixing this – install the latest version of WinRAR and/or try using the built-in archive repair function. Might work. Also, see here.
I downloaded a Bukkake Video File from rapidshare.
but unfortunitely its in RAR with passsword.
i dont konw pass..
what to do now ?
Ah, kheh, hmm… Nothing. It’s virtually impossible to crack .rar files. Pervert.
Well, I hope the Bittorrent morons don’t all end up here!
Well, apparently they haven’t. On the other hand, a visitor is a visitor, or something to that effect.
What is this bullshit. You follow the FREE links and it ends up with a charge and requires a Credit Card.
Nonsense. 7-zip is free & open source, and nowhere does it tell you to pay them anything (unless you click the “Donate” link, which is, of course, completely optional).
I think Jagman’s problem is with the google ads hosted by your site.
They are flogging non-free unrar programs, at least for me. Thus the effect
is that under what appears to be ‘the free RAR extractor list’ is a list of programs
that cost.
Thank you for the 7-zip information, by the way. It was exactly what I needed.
Ah, that may be it. Well, the ads are there to stay though – I’ve got to make a living somehow