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• Best Free Rar Extractor

Free file extractor software helps you extract the one or more files contained within a compressed file, ending in extensions like ZIP, RAR, 7Z and many others. Compressing files is a very common practice to help keep downloads and backups organized and small.

These programs, commonly called zip or unzip programs, are usually small, easy to install, ​and support lots of common compression formats.

Archive Extractor is a small and easy online tool that can extract over 70 types of compressed files, such as 7z, zipx, rar, tar, exe, dmg and much more. 7-Zip is an open source extractor software. While most of its source codes are under GNU LGPL license, the unRAR comes under mixed license. The extractor free download is available and it can be used on any computer system including the commercial ones.

File extractor programs are also sometimes referred to as packer/unpacker, zipper/unzipper, or compression/decompression programs. Regardless of what they're called, they all do the same thing — and the ones we've listed below do it for free!

PeaZip

What We Like

• Integrates with Windows Task Scheduler.

• Two-step verification.

What We Don't Like

• Complicated setup.

• No native Mac support.

PeaZip is a free file unzipper program that can extract content from over 180 archive file formats, some of which are common and others that are lesser-known.

In addition to decompressing files, PeaZip can also create new archives in over 10 formats. These can be password-protected and encrypted with 256-bit AES encryption, as well as secured with a keyfile for added protection.

PeaZip has some advanced features, too, like scheduled archives and support for creating self-extracting files.

7-Zip

What We Like

• Reliable AES-256 encryption.

• For personal or commercial use.

What We Don't Like

• Outdated interface.

• Heavy on system resources.

7-Zip is likely one of the most widely known file archiving and extracting software, with support for a wide range of popular file formats.

Dozens of archive files types can be opened with 7-Zip, and you can create a new archive in a few popular formats. You can also create self-extracting files in the EXE format that can be launched and extracted without using any decompression software — this is great if you're sending an archive to someone but you aren't sure if they have the proper software to extract files.

7-Zip integrates with Windows Explorer so that you can right-click an archive file to pull the content out.

Something else we like about 7-Zip is that it doesn't try to install extra software or toolbars during setup. However, one downside is that there isn't a portable 7-Zip available from the developer.

Note

UnzipLite is another free decompressor program that's based on the 7-Zip project, so it looks and functions nearly identical to 7-Zip.

jZip

What We Like

• Intuitive interface.

• Portable version available.

What We Don't Like

• Adds jZip.com links to new archives.

• Tries to install adware on setup.

jZip is a free archive extractor that can decompress over 40 different file formats, like ones that have the 7Z, EXE, ISO, WIM, LZH, TBZ2, and ZIP file extension.

Password-protection is supported if you're creating a new archive, with either ZipCrypto or 256-bit AES encryption.

Drag and drop archives into jZip or just right-click a supported format and choose to extract the contents. It's really that easy to unzip an archive with jZip.

CAM UnZip

What We Like

• Fast and lightweight.

• User-friendly tabbed interface.

What We Don't Like

• Annoying banner ad.

• No full-context menu integration.

CAM UnZip is a free compressor and file extractor that works with ZIP files. It supports drag and drop to quickly open a ZIP file and can create password-protected archives.

There's an interesting feature in CAM UnZip where the program can be configured to automatically run a 'setup.exe' file if one is extracted from a ZIP archive. This can greatly speed things up if you'll be extracting lots of setup files.

During install, you're given the option to install CAM UnZip as a portable program that can be launched from a removable drive, or, of course, as a regular one that runs from your computer.

Zipeg

What We Like

• Online video tutorials.

• Thumbnail previews of zipped images.

What We Don't Like

• Moderate to high resource consumption.

• Slow-loading previews.

Zipeg is another free archive extractor similar to the others in this list that supports common formats like RAR, TAR, and ZIP, plus several others.

Zipeg doesn't allow the creation of new archives, but it handles unzipping files just fine. When the program first opens, you get to choose which file extensions you want associated with the program so that you can be sure that Zipeg is the one that opens all of your archives.

One particular feature worth noting is the option to automatically open nested archives, meaning that Zipeg will open archives stored within the archive, automatically. While this isn't very common, it is helpful when you run into an archive like that.

While there isn't support for showing Zipeg in the right-click context menu, which makes unzipping files really easy, Zipeg does support drag and drop into its program window.

Unzip-Online

What We Like

• No installation necessary.

• Compatible with all browsers and operating systems.

What We Don't Like

• Tedious extraction process.

• No archive creation.

Unzip-Online is an online archive file decompressor. Upload a RAR, ZIP, 7Z, or TAR file to Unzip-Online and it will show you the files inside.

You can't download all the files at once, which is unfortunate, so you must select each file individually to download. Also, password-protected files can't be extracted with Unzip-Online.

There is a max upload size limit of 200 MB per file, which is probably just fine for most archives.

RAR File Extractor

What We Don't Like

• Limited functionality.

• Only supports RAR files.

RAR File Extractor is a free archive unzipper that can extract RAR files.

There really isn't anything to this program except the initial screen, which lets you load a RAR file and choose where it should be extracted.

Zipper

What We Like

• Online help document.

• Fixes damaged and incomplete files.

What We Don't Like

• Ugly interface.

• Not user-friendly.

Zipper is another free archive decompressor that can open and create ZIP files.

Drag and drop is supported for opening a ZIP file in Zipper, but it can't open a 256-bit AES encrypted file.

The interface isn't nearly as easy to use as the other programs in this list, there isn't a Windows Explorer integration setting, and it takes longer than it should to create your own ZIP file because you must use the built-in file explorer to select data.

Given the other programs in this list, Zipper really shouldn't be your preferred choice for a file unzipper. However, it is a working option and can do the job correctly, even if it's not the easiest to use or most appealing program.

IZArc

What We Like

• Multilingual interface.

• Extensive file format support.

What We Don't Like

• No customizable compression settings.

• Slower than 7Zip.

IZArc is a free compression and extraction utility that works with 40+ archive file types, can repair broken archives, and supports scanning archives for viruses before opening them.

The program is easy to use because it can be integrated with the right-click context menu in Windows. You can use this menu to quickly open or extract any of the supported unpacking formats.

There's a really helpful feature in IZArc that lets convert between archive formats, such as RAR to ZIP and many other variations of all sorts of formats. This is also true for CD images, meaning that you could make an ISO file from a BIN, MDF, NRG, or NDI file.

Archives created with IZArc can be password-protected with 256-bit AES encryption or ZipCrypto.

A portable download called IZArc2Go is also available on the download page, plus a command line tool and an iOS app.

ZipGenius

What We Like

• Full-context menu integration.

• Lightweight and portable.

What We Don't Like

• Inadequate help file.

• Buggy performance.

Another free archive extractor and compressor for Windows only is ZipGenius.

Several formats are supported with ZipGenius, for both creating and extracting archives. You can password protect new archives, automatically exclude particular file types when compressing files, and even split an archive into several smaller parts for easier web sharing or storage.

Express Rip is free.

When extracting an archive with ZipGenius, you can set up an antivirus program to automatically scan the results to ensure you're not opening an infected archive.

ZipGenius also supports converting an archive to the ZIP format to easily change the file type to this popular one. There's also an option in the settings to set the priority of ZipGenius to control how many system resources can be allocated to it when compressing and decompressing files.

Free Zip Wizard

What We Like

• Step-by-step compression configuration.

• Streamlined graphical interface.

What We Don't Like

• No longer supported by the developer.

• Speed varies based on compression settings.

Free Zip Wizard is a clean and easy to use free file decompressor that supports ZIP files only.

In addition to opening and extracting ZIP files, Free Zip Wizard can create new ZIP files that are password-protected and supports uploading a newly created ZIP file to an FTP server with the built-in FTP client.

When creating a new ZIP file, File Zip Wizard doesn't allow adding whole folders to the archive, but you can select more than one file at a time, which is helpful.

It's really easy to choose how much compression you wish to apply to the ZIP file with a slider setting — you can choose anywhere from no compression to maximum compression.

Something you might not like about Free Zip Wizard is that it shows an advertisement every time you close the program.

TUGZip

What We Like

• Extracts files from disc images.

• Creates self-extracting .exe files.

What We Don't Like

• No context menu integration with Windows 7 and later.

• Slow at extracting larger archives.

TUGZip is a free archive decompressor that integrates with Windows, making extracting archives much faster.

Like many other programs in this list, TUGZip can make self-extracting archives, but it also lets you add custom commands that run after the extraction completes.

You can add an installed virus scanner to the TUGZip settings to have it scan extracted files automatically, which is great to prevent a malicious file from an archive from infecting your computer.

TUGZip can also create batch archives, repair broken archives, and convert an archive to one of several formats like 7Z, CAB, RAR, or ZIP.

ALZip

What We Like

• Multilingual support.

• Novel EGG format facilitates Unicode support.

What We Don't Like

• Consumes more system resources than WinZip.

• EGG compression is painfully slow.

ALZip is a free archive compressor and extractor for Windows and Mac. It can extract files from 40 archive formats and create new archives in over five different formats.

AlZip supports scanning files right after they're extracted using your own antivirus program, which is super helpful if you're downloading lots of archives since they may contain malware.

In addition, ALZip supports drag and drop to open archives, and encryption when making a new one.

A really awesome feature we found in ALZip is the ability to preview the contents of an archive without opening it, called Peak in Archive. This works by simply right-clicking a supported archive (like a ZIP file) and viewing the file names in the context menu.

After installing AlZip, you must enter this free serial number to use it: EVZC-GBBD-Q3V3-DAD3.

BiGZiP

What We Like

• Works with most operating systems.

• Light on system resources.

What We Don't Like

• No updates in a decade.

• Documentation is no longer available.

There aren't too many options in BiGZIP that set it apart from newer programs except the compression settings. There are nine different compression levels you can select to better refine how compressed you want an archive to be.

Loading files into a new ZIP file with BiGZIP isn't as intuitive as some of the other programs in this list, but it does work if you need to make or extract a ZIP file.

BiGZIP is a very outdated ZIP archiver and extractor, with the last supported Windows OS being Windows 98 (Mac and others are also supported). However, we tested BiGZIP in Windows 10 and Windows 8 without any issues.

To download BiGZIP, click the Download link on the left side of the download page, and then choose the link next to your operating system.

Best Free Rar Extractor

Filzip

What We Like

• Detailed help file.

• Add hidden files to archives.

What We Don't Like

• Doesn't display elapsed and remaining time for extractions.

• Limited file format support.

Filzip is another old program that hasn't been updated in quite some time. However, it supports context menu integration, encryption, custom compression levels, virus scanning, and other advanced settings and options.

This file extractor can also convert archives, split archives into smaller pieces, search for files in an archive by name/date/size, and create self-extracting EXE files from ZIP archives.

In addition to supporting regular archive file formats like the other programs from this list, Filzip can also open less common ones like UUE, XXE, and ZOO archives. Around 15 file types in total can be opened using Filzip, and it can also create archives in several file formats like ZIP, JAR, CAB, and BH.

Adding files and folders to an archive using Filzip is a little more difficult than many of the other programs in this list.

Zipware is free RAR software for all versions of Microsoft Windows that supports archive formats RAR, RAR5, Zip, Zipx, 7zip, ISO, Gzip, Tar and many more. Zipware has been designed to be simple, fast and intuitive. Installation is quick and easy with no tricky checkboxes or unwanted software. Zipware will not make any changes to your computer without your permission. It will not change your browser settings, try to connect to the internet or ask you to sign up for any online accounts. Zipware provides every feature you would expect in an archiver such as drag and drop, integrated Windows Explorer context menu, creation of self extracting archives and the ability to convert archives between formats. Zipware uses WinRAR's free UnRAR utility to extract Rar files for the best performance and compatibility possible. Best of all Zipware is completely free and will always be freeware with no limitiations to its features.