How do I open a RAR file on a Mac, iPhone or Android phone?

Can your device open RAR files on its own?

RAR is WinRAR’s format, and most devices don’t open it out of the box. Here is what each one can do by itself, and what to use when it can’t.

Tip: The extractor on this page runs inside your browser, so it works the same on every one of these devices, and archives up to 200 MB never leave your device.

Open a RAR file on a Mac

A Mac’s built-in Archive Utility opens ZIP files but not RAR or 7Z, so double-clicking a RAR does nothing useful. Either open it here, with nothing to install:

1. Drag the RAR file onto the top of this page (or click Select File). It opens at once, in Safari or Chrome.
2. Click Save next to a file to keep just that one, or tick several and click Download selected as ZIP.
3. Or click Download all as ZIP: macOS opens the ZIP with a double-click.

Tip: If you open RAR files every day, a free Mac app saves a step: The Unarchiver and Keka both open RAR and 7Z with a double-click.

Open a RAR file on an iPhone or iPad, with no app

The Files app on an iPhone or iPad unzips ZIP files but can’t open RAR. Safari can, with this page:

1. Open this page in Safari and tap Select File.
2. Tap Choose File and find the RAR in the Files app (your downloads are in its Downloads folder).
3. The list of files appears. Tap Save next to a file: Safari puts it in the Downloads folder of the Files app.

Open a RAR file on Android

Some Android phones’ file apps open RAR files and some don’t. With this page it works on any of them:

1. Open this page in Chrome and tap Select File.
2. Choose the RAR file, usually in Downloads.
3. Tap Save next to the files you need. They go to your Downloads folder.

On Windows

Windows 11 opens RAR and 7Z files in File Explorer since the 23H2 update, from September 2023: double-click the archive, or right-click it and choose Extract All. It can’t open password-protected archives, though, and it is slow with large ones. Windows 10 can’t open RAR at all.

For either case, the extractor on this page works in Edge or Chrome, asks for passwords, and needs no install. 7-Zip is the free app to install if you work with archives a lot.

Password-protected RAR files

When a RAR or 7Z file has a password, the extractor asks for it and then opens the files, all in your browser. Without the right password the files can’t be read: the encryption is what keeps them private, and no tool can open them legitimately. Ask whoever sent the archive.

We tested it: twelve real archives

We opened twelve real RAR and 7Z files with the extractor on this page, from a RAR 1.5 file made in the 1990s to RAR 5 and several kinds of 7Z, in Chrome on a laptop. Eleven opened in about a quarter of a second each, and the password-protected ones asked for their password. One kind failed: a 7Z compressed with Zstandard, which only special builds of 7-Zip make. Its list of files showed, but the files couldn’t be unpacked.

Tip: Tested on 8 November 2026 with real test files from the rarfile and py7zr projects. Bigger archives take longer: the time grows with the size of the file.

When a RAR file won’t open

• “The archive is damaged” or “unexpected end of archive”: the download most likely stopped part-way, so the end of the file is missing. Download it again and compare its size with the size on the website.
• Split archives (.part1.rar, .part2.rar, .r00, .7z.001): ConvertKitty opens single-file archives only. Put all the parts in one folder and open the first part with 7-Zip on Windows, or The Unarchiver or Keka on a Mac.
• A 7Z made with Zstandard: the list of files shows but the files can’t be unpacked. Ask the sender for a normal 7Z or a ZIP.
• A file bigger than 200 MB: it is opened on our server instead (up to 1 GB); you get all the files back in one ZIP, and the archive is deleted after 72 hours.
• Wrong password: the extractor says so; passwords are case-sensitive, so check Caps Lock.

Should you convert RAR to ZIP?

If you are going to share the files or open them again later, yes: every computer and phone opens ZIP without an app. RAR to ZIP keeps every file exactly as it was. To make a smaller archive instead, RAR to 7Z usually compresses better.

How the extractor on this page works

ConvertKitty runs 7-Zip, compiled to WebAssembly, inside your browser. Archives up to 200 MB are opened on your device and never uploaded: nothing to install, no account, free. Larger archives, up to 1 GB, are opened on our server, sent back as one ZIP and deleted 72 hours later.