This post explains how to convert files to RAR format in Windows 11/10. Microsoft has recently announced that users of Windows 11 will soon get native support for RAR files and several other archive file formats to open such files. But to convert files to the RAR format, you will have to make use of a free tool.
RAR files (.rar) are recognized worldwide and RAR is gaining popularity for online data compression. Windows at present doesn’t natively support the RAR file format, but you can use third-party tools to open RAR files on a Windows 11/10 PC. Once the new feature rolls out, you will be able to open RAR files through the Windows 11 OS, as added native support for additional archive formats, including tar, 7-zip, rar, gz and many others using the libarchive open-source project.
The support only goes halfway, so you will be able to only extract the RAR files. To compress the files, you may have to resort to the conventional ZIP file format only and not the RAR format.
How to convert files to RAR format in Windows 11/10
In this post, we will show you how to convert files to RAR format on a Windows 11/10 PC using the following two methods:
- Convert files to RAR using WinRAR.
- Convert files to RAR using free online file converters.
Let us see this in detail.
1] Convert files to RAR using WinRAR
WinRAR allows you to convert archives to RAR, RAR4, and ZIP file formats. Here’s how you can use it to convert files to the RAR format:
Open File Explorer and navigate to the archive you want to convert. Right-click on the file and select Open with > WinRAR archiver.
The file will open up in WinRAR. If you’re using the evaluation copy, click on the Close button in the Purchase WinRAR license prompt. You can continue to use WinRAR for free with limited features.
Click on the Tools menu on top and select the Convert archives option. Alternatively, you may use the Alt+Q hotkey.
In the Convert archive window, click on the Compression button.
In the Set default compression options window, select RAR under Archive format and click on the OK button.
Click on OK in the Convert archive window to start the conversion process.
Click on the Close button to exit the file conversion window.
By default, the converted archive will save in the same folder where the source file is located. You can change this location by clicking on the Browse button next to the Folder for converted archives option in the Convert archives window.
WinRAR is free to use. After 40 days, it does display a notification to upgrade to the Pro version – but it continues to remain free and you can use it. You can download it here.
2] Convert files to RAR using free online file converters
There are many online file conversion tools that allow you to convert archives to RAR format for free. Here are 3 such tools you can use to convert your archives on a Windows 11/10 PC:
A] Convert archives to RAR using ConvertFiles
ConvertFiles is an ad-based, free-to-use online file conversion tool that lets you quickly convert archives of up to 250 MB in size. You can use it to convert as many files per day as you want, provided the archives are not password-protected or not multi-volume archives.
Go to ConverFiles website. Click on the Browse button next to the Choose a local file option. Browse and select the archive from your PC.
ConvertFiles will automatically capture the Input file format. Select RAR using the Output format dropdown.
Click on the Convert button. The file will begin uploading and take a few minutes to convert to the RAR format.
Click on the Click here to go to the download page link to view the download link. Then click on the ‘.rar’ file link to download the converted archive.
By default, the converted archive remains on the servers of ConvertFiles for 1 hour; however, you can manually delete the file using the Delete output file link available on the download page of ConvertFiles.
B] Convert archives to RAR using cloudconvert
cloudconvert is another online file conversion utility that lets you convert up to 25 archives per day absolutely free. cloudconvert supports batch file conversion and the files can be up to 1GB in size. To convert files to RAR using cloudconvert, follow these steps:
Visit the cloudconvert website. Select Archive > RAR using the ‘to’ dropdown available on the right side of the page. Click on the Select File dropdown.
Browse and select the file and click on the Convert button. Click on the Add more Files button to add more archives for conversion. You can select files from your PC, Google Drive/Dropbox/OneDrive account, or using a URL.
cloudconvert will take a while to upload and convert the archive. After that, it will show a Download button using which you can download the file. The converted archive will save in the Downloads folder of your Windows PC.
C] Convert archives to RAR using Convertio
Another similar online tool Convertio allows you to convert files to RAR format. However, it offers limited features for free conversion of archived files. The maximum file size is limited to 100 MB and the maximum number of conversions is 10 files per 24 hours. It also supports batch conversion of archives, but the free plan is limited to 2 concurrent files. To convert files to RAR using Convertio, follow these steps:
Visit the Convertio website. Click on the Choose Files button to browse and select files from your computer. You can also upload files from Dropbox or from Google Drive. Select RAR from the ‘to’ dropdown and then click on the Convert button in the bottom right corner.
Allow Convertio to upload and convert your file and then click on the Download button to download your converted archive. The files will remain available with Convertio for 24 hours, but you can delete them manually from the My Files section.
This is all about converting files to RAR format in Windows 11/10. I hope you find this useful.
Also read: How to convert RAR to ISO in Windows.
How do I create a RAR file in Windows 11?
You can use several third-party tools, such as WinRAR, to create a RAR file in Windows 11. Download and Install WinRAR on your PC. Navigate to the folder that contains the files you want to compress. Select all files, right-click, and choose WinRAR > Add to archive. Give a suitable name to the archive and click on OK to create the RAR file.
Does Windows 11 have RAR?
RAR is a proprietary file format and Windows currently can’t open a RAR file type without a dedicated tool. However, as per Microsoft’s recent announcement, Windows 11 users will soon be able to open RAR files after a feature release that’s going to roll out to everyone in September this year. The support for creating RAR files is planned for the year 2024.
Read Next: How to add Password to Zip file in Windows.
