RAR to ZIP Converter
Drop a .rar, get a .zip every operating system opens natively. No installing WinRAR, The Unarchiver, or 7-Zip — and your files never leave your browser.
Drop your RAR file here
Converts to .zip — stays on your device
Why convert RAR to ZIP?
- Opening a RAR download on macOS where Finder doesn't read RAR — convert to ZIP and double-click to unpack.
- Sharing an archive with a colleague on a locked-down corporate machine where they can't install WinRAR.
- Uploading to a service (Google Drive preview, Slack file picker, Notion attachments) that previews ZIP but ignores RAR.
- Repackaging an old game-mod or media bundle that shipped as RAR into the ZIP form modern installers expect.
- Converting on a Chromebook or iPad where there's no easy RAR tool but ZIP is built-in.
- Sending a contractor a deliverable in the format they actually have software for.
How our converter works
Your RAR is decompressed by libarchive (the same library tar, bsdtar, and ArchiveBox use), running as WebAssembly in a Web Worker on this page. Both RAR4 and RAR5 archives are supported. Once extracted, the files are streamed into fflate, a fast JavaScript ZIP packer, and the resulting .zip is offered for download. Nothing is uploaded — both libraries run in your browser.
Frequently asked questions
Does it support RAR5 (modern WinRAR archives)?
Yes. libarchive reads both RAR4 (the older default) and RAR5 (the post-2013 default for WinRAR 5.x). The extracted files end up in a standard ZIP regardless of which RAR variant they came from.
Will password-protected RARs work?
Not currently — the tool extracts using the no-password path. If your archive needs a password, decrypt it in WinRAR or The Unarchiver first, then run the unencrypted version through this converter.
Will the ZIP be larger than the RAR?
Often yes. RAR's compression is genuinely better than ZIP's DEFLATE — the resulting ZIP is typically 10-30% larger for the same content. The trade-off you're making is universal compatibility for compression efficiency. If size matters more than openness, keep the RAR.
How big a RAR can I convert?
Up to a few hundred MB on desktop browsers, less on mobile (typical limits are around 500 MB before WASM memory pressure starts to matter). For multi-gigabyte archives, use a desktop tool like 7-Zip directly.
Are my files uploaded?
No. libarchive (decompress) and fflate (re-zip) both run as WebAssembly/JavaScript on this page. Sensitive archives — design files, NDA bundles, internal documents — never leave your device.
About the RAR format
RAR (Roshal Archive) was created by Eugene Roshal in 1993 and remains a popular format for downloaded archives — game mods, media bundles, software cracks, and large file transfers between people who already have WinRAR installed. The format is proprietary; only Roshal's WinRAR (and a small handful of licensed implementations like libarchive) compresses to RAR, though the unrar code is open source. ZIP is the universal alternative: every modern operating system unpacks ZIP natively (macOS Finder, Windows Explorer, Linux file managers, mobile mail apps), no third-party tool required. Converting RAR→ZIP is what you do when you need an archive someone can open without first installing software — increasingly the case on locked-down corporate machines, Chromebooks, iPads, and any environment where third-party utilities aren't an option.