RAR
A proprietary archive format designed for compressed file storage, multi-volume archives, recovery data, and encryption.
General information
- Format name
- RAR Archive
- Extension
.rar- MIME type
application/vnd.rar- Category
- archive
- Data type
- Binary
- Developer
- RARLAB
File signatures
| Offset | Hexadecimal | ASCII | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 52 61 72 21 1A 07 00 | Rar! | Signature used by RAR 4.x and several earlier RAR versions. |
| 0 | 52 61 72 21 1A 07 01 00 | Rar! | RAR 5.0 archive signature. |
Common uses
Compressed archives
Large file collections
Multi-part archives
Encrypted archives
File distribution
Format identifiers
- PRONOM
x-fmt/264fmt/411fmt/613- Media type
application/vnd.rar
Related formats
Technical resources
| Resource | Publisher | Link |
|---|---|---|
| RAR 5.0 Archive Format | RARLAB | Open resource ↗ |
| Media Types Registry | IANA | Open resource ↗ |
Record information
- Verified
- October 3, 2026
- Last updated
- October 3, 2026