Extract a RAR online
RAR is the awkward one. Unlike ZIP, the RAR format is proprietary — creating a .rar generally requires WinRAR, and the decompressor is license-restricted, which is why so many "free online RAR extractor" sites either upload your file to a server that holds a licensed copy, or quietly stop working past the first archive. ZipTool takes a different route: it runs a WebAssembly build of the open unrar decoder directly in your browser, so a .rar is decompressed on your own machine with nothing uploaded and nothing installed.
You open the page, drop the .rar onto it, and the archive is parsed locally. The file tree renders in your tab, you browse and preview the contents, and when you are ready you extract — writing the original files to a folder you choose (on Chrome and Edge) or downloading them as a bundle (on Firefox and Safari). The whole decode-and-extract loop runs client-side; the network is used only to load the page.
How to extract a RAR in your browser
The first time you open a RAR, the browser downloads the WebAssembly unrar module (a one-time fetch, cached afterward); from then on decoding is local and instant for any RAR you open in that browser.
- Add the .rar. Drag it onto the page, pick it from disk, or paste a direct URL. The bytes are read locally — no upload.
- Browse the tree. The RAR's contents render as a folder tree. Expand folders, search across the whole archive by name, and click any entry to preview it before extracting.
- Extract. Use the extract-all control in the file-tree toolbar. On Chrome and Edge, pick a destination folder and the original files are written there with their folder structure; on Firefox and Safari, the contents download as a clean zip.
- Or download single files. Preview an entry and download just that file when you only need one.
Why RAR is harder than ZIP (and why this still works)
RAR was created by Eugene Roshal and is developed by RARLAB. It typically achieves stronger compression than ZIP, especially on multimedia, and supports solid archives, recovery records, and split volumes — features that made it popular for large software and media distributions. The catch is that the format is not open: the RAR encoder is proprietary to WinRAR, and while third-party decoders exist, the legal right to ship one rests on RARLAB licensing the unrar code under terms that permit it.
ZipTool uses a WebAssembly build derived from that licensed unrar source. That is what lets a browser tab do something normally reserved for an installed program — and do it without sending your archive to a server that holds a licensed decoder. For the format background, see what is a RAR file; for opening rather than extracting, see how to open a RAR file and the RAR viewer.
Extraction versus previewing a RAR
As with any archive, previewing means looking inside without writing to disk — ZipTool renders the tree and shows you files one at a time, in place. Extracting decompresses the entries and writes them out as real files. Preview first, extract second: confirm the RAR holds what you expect, then unpack only what you actually want.
Inside a RAR you can preview the same things as in a ZIP: source code and config in a syntax-highlighting editor, images, PDFs, audio, and video. That makes "browse before you unpack" genuinely useful for a RAR that might be large or that came from someone you do not fully trust.
Privacy: RAR contents stay on your device
RAR archives often carry exactly the kind of content you would rather not hand to a stranger's server — software bundles, media, backups, work files. The upload-based RAR extractors ask you to do exactly that: send the whole encrypted-with-nothing archive to their backend, let them decrypt and list it, and trust them with the result. A client-side extractor removes that step. Your .rar is decoded in your tab and written to a folder you chose; no complete copy exists on any other machine.
You can verify this yourself: open a RAR, then open DevTools and watch the Network tab — you will see the page load and the one-time WASM fetch, but no upload of your archive. Then disconnect from the internet and confirm browsing, previewing, and extracting keep working. For the broader privacy argument, see why client-side is safer than uploading.
Honest limits
A browser-based RAR extractor is powerful, but RAR has features the in-browser decoder does not cover. These are honest gaps, not limitations hidden behind marketing.
- Encrypted RAR entries are not supported. Password-protected RAR files cannot be decoded in the browser by this tool. If you have a password-protected archive, use a desktop tool (WinRAR, 7-Zip, The Unarchiver). ZipTool can decrypt password-protected ZIP and 7z, but not RAR.
- Split / multi-volume RARs are not supported. A RAR split across
.part1.rar,.part2.rar, … volumes needs all parts reassembled by a tool that understands the spanning format; the browser decoder handles single-volume RARs only. - Extract-to-folder needs Chrome or Edge. Writing a real directory tree uses the File System Access API, absent in Firefox and Safari. On those browsers you still get every file, bundled as a downloadable zip that preserves the folder structure.
- You cannot create a RAR. RAR encoding is proprietary to WinRAR; no browser tool — this one included — can produce a
.rar. ZipTool can create and convert to ZIP, TAR, and TAR.GZ instead. See create a zip online. - Recovery records help, but only so far. RAR's recovery record can repair minor corruption; if an archive is badly damaged or truncated, extraction will fail partway, just as it would in any extractor.
Frequently asked questions
How do I extract a RAR file online without WinRAR?
Open the page and drop your .rar onto it. ZipTool decodes the RAR in your browser using a WebAssembly unrar module — no WinRAR install, no account, no upload. Browse the file tree to confirm the contents, then use the extract-all control to write the files to a folder (Chrome/Edge) or download them as a zip (Firefox/Safari).
Is this RAR extractor really free?
Yes. Browsing, searching, previewing, and extracting a RAR is completely free, with no account and no install. The decoder runs locally in your browser; there is no per-file or per-archive paywall.
Do you upload my RAR file?
No. The RAR is decoded entirely in your browser using a WebAssembly unrar module; your file contents are never transmitted to a server, never stored, and never handed to a third party. The only network request is the page itself (and a one-time fetch of the decoder module the first time you open a RAR). You can confirm there is no upload in DevTools, and by disconnecting from the internet after the page loads — extracting keeps working.
Can it extract a password-protected RAR?
No. Password-protected (encrypted) RAR files are not supported in the browser by this tool — use WinRAR, 7-Zip, or The Unarchiver for those. ZipTool can decrypt password-protected ZIP and 7z archives when you supply the password, but not RAR. Without the password, no honest tool can open an encrypted archive.
What about split RAR files (.part1.rar, .part2.rar, …)?
Split (multi-volume) RARs are not supported in the browser. A RAR spanned across several .partNN.rar volumes has to be reassembled by a tool that understands RAR's volume format, which the in-browser decoder does not handle. For a single-volume .rar, extraction works as described above.
Can I open a RAR on my phone?
Yes. ZipTool runs in any modern mobile browser with no install. Open the page, pick or drop the .rar, browse it, and extract. On mobile browsers that lack the directory-writing API, the contents download as a zip rather than a native folder.