Screenshot of WinRar front page from win-rar.com

Download WinRAR - get WinRar absolutely FREE - this is how you do it!

Nikolaj Nielsen af

Are you looking for a more secure way to send and transfer files? Look no further, as you've landed in the right spot!

In this post you will find everything you should know about the popular file compression program "WinRAR" and why it can be a good solution when, for example, you want to send sensitive or confidential files via e-mail.

What is WinRAR? WinRAR is a tool used to create and compress files in formats such as RAR and the popular ZIP format. The program is incredibly user-friendly and offers an easy way to send files securely, as it allows you to lock files with a password that can be shared with the recipient

If you want more information about WinRAR and its uses, it will be beneficial for you to continue reading this guide.

Who invented WinRAR? The story behind WinRAR!

WinRAR is a file compression program primarily used for Windows and was developed by Russian software engineer Eugene Roshal back in April 1995.

Eugene intended to create a file compression program with increased security and better usability than the competition.

The result was an incredibly efficient and user-friendly program that made it easier than ever to encrypt and transfer files, both via external hard drives, USB sticks, e-mail or even HDMI cable in recent times.

WinRAR has been an integral part of the technological development in computers since the launch of the Internet as we know it in 1993.

That is why WinRAR has also developed the RAR file type to keep up with the development.

Today, for example, the RAR5 file format can be up to 1 GiB.

Here you have a table of the development of WinRAR over the years:

Version

Release Date

Description

Pre-release

Fall 1993

The code behind RAR and UNRAR is released

1.54b

April 1995

Early development of WinRAR

3.00

May 2002

New file format "RAR3" is added along with a new version of WinRAR

3.41

December 2004

Improvements for compression of Linux file formats such as .Z, GZIP and BZIP2

3.50

August 2005

Support for Windows XP interface as well as new X64 versions of Windows XP

3.60

August 2006

New version of the compression algorithm that increases speed in systems with multiple cores or hyper-threaded CPUs

3.80

September 2008

Support for ZIP archives

3.90

May 2009

Support for new Windows 7 operating system, increased speed

3.91

-

Last release which supports Valencian

3.92

-

Last release supporting Serbian Cyrillic and Serbian Latin

4.00

March 2011

Decompression speed increased to 30%. Support for Windows 98, Windows ME and Windows NT ends. Now only Windows 2000 and up

4.10

January 2012

No limit on ZIP compression, now you can have infinite files and archive sizes

4.20

June 2012

The compression speed in SMP mode is significantly increased. Windows 2000 support is discontinued

5.00

September 2013

Addition of RAR5 archive format

5.50

August 2017

New addition of a "master password" which can be used to encrypt passwords stored in WinRAR

5.60

June 2018

Repair of protected RAR5 archives improved, Automatic detection of encrypted ZIP file comments

5.70

February 2019

Removed support for ACE archive decompression due to major security issue in unacev2.dll

How does WinRAR work and what can it be used for?

WinRAR is one of the world's most popular file compression programs, and there are a lot of good reasons for that.

With WinRAR, you can easily and securely convert entire folders to either ZIP or RAR folders, which makes it significantly easier to send and transfer large files and folders.

The program also works as a supplement or alternative to the normal explorer in your operating system and is much more manageable than traditional explorers.

Although WinRAR is primarily used for Windows and certain Linux systems, it is unfortunately not ideal for Mac. However, you can use WinRAR on a Mac, but for best performance you may need to run Windows on your Apple computer, which may not be ideal for everyone.

Even if you don't need to send and compress folders, it's still a good idea to have a program like WinRAR installed.

WinRAR makes it much easier to extract files that you receive or download from the Internet.

If you want to use the program to compress files, it is a great advantage to use WinRAR. When you compress files in folders, they take up less space, which means that the recipient does not have to spend a long time unpacking them.

You can also use WinRAR as a kind of archive where you can create folders with all your files.

In this way, you can clean up your desktop, as all your files can now be found in a single folder.

In this combined folder, you can choose to send and compress the individual folders or files it contains without extracting them from the "archive" first.

Why use WinRAR? What are the benefits?

There are now an incredible number of compression programs and tools, so why choose WinRAR in particular?

WinRAR was among the first on the market, but is still recognized as one of the best and most user-friendly compression programs.

With WinRAR you can easily and quickly compress and encrypt your files in a simple way, without needing advanced technical knowledge. The process requires just a few clicks.

In addition, the RAR file format is associated with WinRAR and allows for some of the most efficient compression options on the market. The files take up considerably less space in this format.

Of course, WinRAR does not only support ZIP and RAR. Besides these file formats, WinRAR also supports a wide range of popular formats such as:

This means that even if a friend or colleague sends you a file that is compressed in a different file format, there is still a good chance that you can open and decompress the file with WinRAR.

Since most people today use WinRAR, compressing and decompressing files is rarely a problem.

This is how you can compress your files with WinRAR!

Compressing your files and creating RAR or ZIP folders that you can easily send to friends or colleagues is an incredibly easy and fast process.

Start by selecting the folder you want to send or compress and right-click on it.

This will open a menu as seen in the image below.

Here you can choose whether you want to create a RAR file or a ZIP file.

To convert the folder to a RAR file, you can press either "Add to archive" to add the folder to your RAR library, or "Add to (the name of your folder).rar" to create a new folder saved in the RAR format. This folder will be placed in the same destination as the original folder.

Then you can easily send this folder via email and the recipient can decompress it using WinRAR.

    How to decompress files with WinRAR!

    Like compression, decompression is also incredibly easy when using WinRAR.

    It can be done in several ways.

    When you open a ZIP or RAR folder or file, it will e.g. look like this:

    Here are several ways to turn the folder back into a regular file folder.

    You can simply drag the folder to your desired destination.

    For larger files, it may be necessary to do it more manually.

    You can e.g. press the "Extract to" button found in the menu of icons.

    This will open a menu that looks like this:

    Here you have several options. First of all, select the desired destination for the folder or files.

    If you transfer a folder with the same name as an existing folder on the destination, you can choose to update the files or replace them with the new ones.

    Once you have selected the destination and settings, press "OK" and your folders or files will now be extracted to the selected destination.

    Another, slightly faster solution is to simply right-click on a RAR or ZIP file and select "Extract files" or "Extract here", as shown in the image below.

    When you select "Extract here" or "Extract here", the files in the ZIP or RAR folder will be extracted where the folder is located. So be careful if you don't want a lot of files on e.g. your desktop or in a junk folder.

    Is WinRAR Secure?

    WinRAR is not only suitable for sending files, but also for protecting sensitive data such as personal photos, files or documents.

    With WinRAR you can quickly and easily secure e.g. ZIP folders with a password, after which you can store them or share them with any recipients of these confidential or sensitive files.

    If you want to secure your ZIP or RAR folder before sending it, you can add a password as follows:

    1. Click on "File" in the upper left corner of your ZIP or RAR file archive.
    2. Press on "Set default password" to open the menu, as shown below.

    In this menu you can enter the desired password, which will then be used to protect the files you convert to ZIP or RAR folders.

    How much does WinRAR cost?

    WinRAR is part of the category of software called "shareware".

    This term refers to programs that offer a free trial period. After this period, you will start receiving pop-ups that either invite you to purchase the program or inform you that the program cannot be used until you purchase the full version.

    The same applies to WinRAR. When the trial period ends, you will start receiving pop-ups every time you open a file with the program informing you that the trial period has ended.

    You can then choose to buy the full version of the program for a one-time fee of approx. DKK 300. After this, you can freely use the program without further payments in the future.

    WinRAR is also available for Android phones where the program is actually free.

    However, WinRAR for Android contains advertisements, which can only be hidden by purchasing the ad-free version of the app for Android phones.

    There are many jokes on the internet that nobody actually buys WinRAR, "because you can just use it for free".

    However, it is considered bad style to continue using the program after the trial period has expired, even when it only costs approx. DKK 300 for lifelong access to the program.

    Where to download WinRAR?

    WinRAR can be downloaded from many different sites, as it belongs to the "shareware" category.

    If you are skeptical, you can always download WinRAR from their official website: www.win-rar.com.

    Here you can both download the free trial version or buy the full version immediately.

    So if you want to follow in the footsteps of over 500 million other users, try WinRAR today and start organizing, compressing and sending your files securely!

    Remember that you can also get WinRAR as an app for Android.

    The app on Android is called "RAR" and can easily be found in the Play Store on your Android device.

    As I said, the app is free, but contains advertisements, which can only be removed by paying for the program.

    avXperten
    ATTENTION! Your order is only binding, when we have confirmed your order.
    Menu Contact
    Cart
    Search