.rar
Use cautionRAR archive
WinRAR's proprietary archive format. Higher compression ratios than ZIP and optional recovery records for repairing damaged splits.
MIME types
- application/vnd.rar
Category
archive
What opens this file
- WinRAR
- 7-Zip
- The Unarchiver
- Keka
How to open by OS
Windows
- WinRAR, 7-Zip (read-only).
Mac
- The Unarchiver, Keka.
Linux
- `unrar` or 7-Zip.
Ios
- iZip, Documents by Readdle.
Android
- RAR, ZArchiver.
Safety notes
- WinRAR's historical ACE-decompression CVE (CVE-2018-20250) allowed remote code execution. Keep WinRAR patched.
- Password-protected RAR evades corporate mail scanning and is a common malware delivery vehicle.
Common mistakes
- Forgetting to enable recovery records means a single missing split makes the whole archive unrecoverable.
- RAR is proprietary — for distribution, ZIP or 7z is usually friendlier to recipients.