April 11, 2019: Due to a recently discovered security exploit, we highly recommend that users update to the latest version of Winrar. Read the changelog here.

WinRAR (64-bit) allows you to open, create, and manage various types of compressed files through its intuitive and streamlined interface. This program offers a full set of features for manipulating and managing compressed files, and it works smoothly and efficiently.

Pros

Intuitive interface: When you attempt to open a ZIP or RAR file, this app automatically takes over and presents the contents of the compressed file, so that you can immediately access them. From this main interface window, you can then manage the archive by adding to it, repairing it, or protecting it, all using the tools readily available across the top of the interface. Even novice users will find their way around this program quite quickly.

Quick create or add: In addition to letting you open compressed files, WinRAR also allows you to create new ones or add to existing archives. You can do this either by dragging and dropping the files in, or by adding them using the controls across the top of the interface.

Cons

64-bit systems only: This particular version of WinRAR is for 64-bit systems only. If you have a 32-bit system, you can download a version optimized for that configuration. And if you're not sure, the 32-bit version will work on both 64-bit and 32-bit machines.

Bottom Line

WinRAR is at the top of the list when it comes to programs of this type. It's hard to go too long without having to open some type of compressed file that Windows can't handle, and so it's worth checking this app out. It's free to try for 40 days, but after that, you'll have to purchase a license for $29 to continue using it.

Editors' note: This is a review of the trial version of WinRAR (64-bit) 5.01.

What do you need to know about free software?

Version 5.71
1. 'Convert archives' command:
a) improved performance when processing a lot of small archives
in Windows 10;
b) fixed memory leaks which could lead to excessive memory use
when converting to ZIP format.
2. Corrupt ZIP archive processing:
a) 'Repair' command replaces packed and unpacked file sizes stored
in local file header with sizes from central directory
if local header sizes look invalid;
b) file extraction is stopped at unpacked size stored in ZIP headers
even if available packed data allows further extraction.
It is done to prevent unexpected hard drive space usage.
3. Ctrl+C allows to abort RAR 'l' command quickly. In previous versions
it could take several seconds until list command stopped.
4. Bugs fixed:
a) WinRAR could crash when attempting to display some types of archive
comments in GUI shell, resulting in a denial of service;
b) if 'Save archive name' and 'Add to context menu' options were
set in compression profile parameters and profile was invoked
from Explorer context menu, WinRAR proposed an automatically
generated archive name instead of name saved in profile.
c) WinRAR displayed an unneeded pair of round brackets in 'Archive'
column of 'Diagnostic messages' window for system error messages;
d) 'Extract to folder' Windows Explorer context menu command could
fail to unpack ZIP archives if their names included a numeric
part followed by .zip extension, arbitrary data was present
before the first file record and 'Remove redundant folders from
extraction path' WinRAR option was switched on;
e) in 'RAR x -x<mask> arcname' command, parent folders of files
matching the specified mask also were excluded from extracting;
f) 'Find' command returned the current folder own name additionally
to its contents for 'Current folder' search area if folder name
matched 'File names to find' mask;
g) if 'Find in files' and 'Find in archives' are both enabled,
'Find' command did not match an archive name itself against
'File names to find' mask after searching inside of archive.
So it did not display archive names for masks like *.rar
and applied this mask only to files inside of archives;
h) when running an executable directly from archive, WinRAR 5.70
did not set a temporary folder with unpacked files as current.
So executables attempting to access other archived files
in current folder could fail to work;
i) WinRAR could be inaccessible for few seconds after closing
an archived file opened in internal viewer in Windows 10;
j) dragging a file to subfolder of ZIP archive with 'Store full paths'
option enabled produced invalid pathnames consisting of repeated
subfolder name. Same invalid pathnames were produced if adding files
to ZIP archive with -ap<folder> -ep2 switches.