Windows 11 will have native support for RAR and 7-ZIP files.

Windows 11 announced that very soon will offer built-in support for RAR, 7-ZIP and other compressed file formats. The tech giant took advantage of the start of its Build 2023 conference to show off all the news coming to its operating system. Although artificial intelligence was the main protagonist of the event, Microsoft also made room for small details like this feature.

In a post published on the official blog, Panos Panay, Product Manager for Windows and Devices, confirmed the news. “We have added built-in support for additional archive formats including tar, 7-zip, rar, gz and many more using the open source libarchive project,” said Panay. “Now you can improve the performance of Windows compression archiving features,” he said.

Built-in support for RAR files came about after decades of using third-party programs. Those who migrated from Windows 98 SE or Windows XP will remember that WinRAR has ever been used for unpacking documents (or game cracks). Application There was a trial period of 40 daysalthough we could use it for years without paying a dime, just like WinZip.

While many relied on apps trial version (like WinRAR) for years, new generations adopted 7-Zip. The open source file archiver has emerged as the best alternative due to its high compression ratio and compatibility with multiple file types. In addition, AES-256 encryption allowed us to secure our documents before sharing them.

How to unzip a RAR file in Windows 11

Microsoft has not confirmed built-in support for RAR or 7-ZIP archives. It may appear in the next software update or a later patch. It’s not well known how this would work though we might assume that this would be identical to what we see in the ZIP format. Users will not need to use a third party application to open a .rar, .gz or .7z file.

Native support for RAR and 7-ZIP ensures that people can double-click on a file and view content or extract it directly from File Explorer in Windows 11. This would be convenient for an ordinary user who is not very familiar with archives. Microsoft has tried to ease the user experience in its latest version of the operating system, leaving aside the dependence on additional software.

For people who archive and send files, built-in RAR support may go unnoticed and blame Microsoftt. Working with ZIP files hasn’t changed much since Windows XP. technological never offered advanced controls to control the degree of compression or to support file splitting.

Enthusiasts will continue to rely on tools like 7-zip for more reliable performance. Although thanks to Microsoft for native RAR support, its implementation was delayed by two decades.