Editing RAR (file format) (section)

== Software ==
{{Main|Comparison of file archivers}}
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===Native operating system support===
RARlab's native software is available for [[Microsoft Windows]] (named WinRAR), [[Linux]], [[FreeBSD]], [[macOS]], and [[Android (operating system)|Android]]; archive extraction is supported natively in [[ChromeOS]]. WinRAR and RAR for Android support the [[graphical user interface]] (GUI); other versions named RAR run as console commands.
===Creating RAR files===
RAR files can only be created with proprietary [[WinRAR]] (Windows), RAR<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rarlab.rar&hl=en_US|title=RAR - Apps on Google Play|website=play.google.com|language=en|access-date=2019-01-31}}</ref> for Android, [[Command-line interface|command-line]] RAR (available for Windows, macOS, Linux, and FreeBSD), and other software that has written permission from Alexander Roshal or uses copyrighted code under license from Roshal. The software license agreements forbid reverse engineering.<ref name="rar_eula" />

===Third-party software for extracting RAR files===
Several programs can unpack the file format.
* RARLAB distributes the [[C++]] source code and binaries for a command-line <code>unrar</code> program.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.rarlab.com/rar_add.htm |title= RarLab downloads: freeware UnRAR source and binaries download |work= RarLab.com}} The license states: "The source code of UnRAR utility is [[freeware]]".</ref> The license permits its use to produce software capable of unpacking, but not creating, RAR archives, without having to pay a fee. It is not a [[free software]] license.
* [[7-Zip]], a [[free and open-source software|free and open-source]] program, starting from 7-Zip version 15.06 beta<ref>{{Cite web |title = 7-Zip / Discussion / Open Discussion: 7-Zip 15.06 beta |url = http://sourceforge.net/p/sevenzip/discussion/45797/thread/c611394e/ |website = sourceforge.net |access-date = 2015-10-24}}</ref> can unpack RAR5 archives, using the RARLAB unrar code.
* [[PeaZip]] is a free RAR unarchiver, licensed under the [[GNU Lesser General Public License|LGPLv3-or-later]] and via 7-Zip can unpack RAR archives, using RARLAB unrar.<ref>[https://peazip.github.io/ PeaZip website] with info about RAR5 extraction.</ref>
* [[The Unarchiver]] is a proprietary freeware software unarchiver for Mac for RAR and other formats. It was previously [[free software]] licensed under the [[GNU Lesser General Public License|LGPLv2.1-or-later]], up to version 3.11.1 (released 2016), which at the time provided a free-software implementation of extraction of RAR versions up to RAR5.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://unarchiver.c3.cx/unarchiver |title=The Unarchiver |website=The Unarchiver |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170621200637/http://unarchiver.c3.cx/unarchiver |archive-date=2017-06-21}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fsf.org/blogs/licensing/free-rarv3-extraction |title=Another High Priority Project done: The Unarchiver provides free RARv3 extraction tools |website=[[Free Software Foundation]] |access-date=2024-02-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://unarchiver.c3.cx/changes |title=The Unarchiver changes |website=The Unarchiver |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706222632/http://unarchiver.c3.cx/changes |archive-date=2017-07-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://github.com/incbee/Unarchiver/blob/master/License.txt |title=The Unarchiver source code from 2016 is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License v2.1 |date=2011-05-11 |website= [[GitHub]]|publisher= |access-date=2024-02-18}}</ref> There is a free software (LGPLv2.1-or-later) command-line version, {{mono|unar}}, forked from 2016, which runs on Mac, Windows, and Linux.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://theunarchiver.com/command-line |title=Unar and Lsar - Command Line Tools for The Unarchiver |website=The Unarchiver |access-date=2024-02-18}}, including The Unarchiver source code from 2016.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://github.com/MacPaw/XADMaster/blob/master/LICENSE |title= MacPaw/XADMaster is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License v2.1 |date=2018-03-21 |website= [[GitHub]]|publisher= |access-date=2021-11-23}}</ref> 
* UNRARLIB (UniquE RAR File Library)<ref name=unrarlib-home/> was an obsolete free software unarchiving library called "unrarlib", licensed under the [[GNU General Public License|GPLv2-or-later]]. It could only decompress archives created by RAR versions prior to 2.9; archives created by RAR 2.9 and later use different formats not supported by this library. The original development-team ended work on this library in 2007.<ref name=unrarlib-features> {{cite web | url= http://www.unrarlib.org/features.html | title= Features | date= 2002 | website= UnRarLib.org | publisher= UniquE RAR File Library }}</ref><ref name=unrarlib-faq> {{cite web | url= http://www.unrarlib.org/faq.html | title= FAQ | website= UnRarLib.org | publisher= UniquE RAR File Library | date= December 2011 }}</ref><ref name=unrarlib-home>
{{cite web
 | url= http://www.unrarlib.org/
 | title= Home
 | website= UnRarLib.org
 | publisher= UniquE RAR File Library
 | date= 2007 
}} 
</ref>
* libarchive, a free and open-source library for reading and writing a variety of archive formats, with partial support for all RAR versions, including RAR5.<ref> {{cite web | title = List of formats supported by libarchive | website = [[GitHub]] | url = https://github.com/libarchive/libarchive/wiki/LibarchiveFormats#archive-formats-supported |access-date = 2021-05-01 }} </ref> The code was written from scratch using RAR's “technote.txt” format description.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://github.com/libarchive/libarchive/issues/151|title=Support for RAR · Issue #151 · libarchive/Libarchive|website=[[GitHub]]}}</ref>
* [[Microsoft]] announced (May 23, 2023)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Panay |first=Panos |date=2023-05-23 |title=Bringing the power of AI to Windows 11 – unlocking a new era of productivity for customers and developers with Windows Copilot and Dev Home |url=https://blogs.windows.com/windowsdeveloper/2023/05/23/bringing-the-power-of-ai-to-windows-11-unlocking-a-new-era-of-productivity-for-customers-and-developers-with-windows-copilot-and-dev-home/ |access-date=2023-05-26 |website=Windows Developer Blog |language=en-US}}</ref> native support for additional archive formats in [[Windows 11]], including tar, 7-zip, rar, gz and many others using the [[libarchive]] open-source project. Recently (July 16, 2023), there have been Insider builds that have native support. It’s said{{by whom|date=November 2024}} to come out in version 23H2.{{cn|date=November 2024}}