How to Open a Password-Protected RAR File on Mac

Updated · Sanii Verma

Guide · 2 min read

Open the RAR with an extractor that supports encrypted archives, type the password when asked, and the files extract as usual. Without the correct password the contents cannot be recovered — ask the person who sent the archive.

Opening it with Rar Extractor

  1. Open the archive the usual way: drop it on the window or the Dock icon, double-click it, or use Choose a file….
  2. Type the password when the app asks, then press Return or click Continue. The app asks only when the archive needs a password.
  3. Open the folder. The files are extracted into a new folder next to the archive. Click Show in Finder.

If the password is wrong, the app says "Wrong password." and keeps what you typed, so you can correct one character instead of typing it all again. Click Cancel to stop without extracting.

The password is used for that extraction and never saved. If the archive contains other archives, the same password is tried on them too.

Archives that hide their file names

RAR can encrypt the archive's header as well as its contents. Then nothing — not even the list of file names — can be read without the password. In Rar Extractor such an archive asks for the password before anything else, the same way.

Password-protected ZIP files

The same steps work for a ZIP protected with the classic ZIP password. ZIP files encrypted with AES have not been tested with Rar Extractor yet and may be reported as a wrong password; an app that supports AES ZIP is the safer choice for those.

When the password does not work

  • Check the case. Passwords are case-sensitive: Summer and summer are different.
  • Check for spaces. A password copied from an email or a chat can pick up a space at the start or end.
  • Check the keyboard layout. If you switched input sources, some keys type different characters.
  • Make sure it is the right archive. A set of split parts shares one password; two separate archives may not.

If you do not know the password

There is no way to read the contents without it. RAR5 encrypts with AES-256, and the files are only as recoverable as the password is guessable. Rar Extractor does not guess, recover or remove passwords, and no honest app can promise to. Ask the person who created the archive.

Other problems — a damaged file, missing parts — are covered in RAR file not opening on Mac.

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