How to Watch RAR Files on a Mac

RAR files are compressed file archives created, typically, with WinRAR. Compressed file archives are single files that contain the information of other files. While RAR files are typically used to contain multiple files in larger folder structures, they can also be used to compress single video files. If you have downloaded a video that appears to be in the RAR format, then you need to decompress or extract the videos from the RAR archive before you can watch your video files normally.

Instructions

1. Download and install a RAR decompression tool such as UnRarX, RAR Expander for Mac, or Stuffit Expander. Double-click the downloaded files, then drag the programs to your “Applications” folder to install.

2. Locate the RAR files on your computer. Double-click the RAR files to let your RAR extraction application extract the videos that are contained within.

3. Double-click your video files that are displayed alongside the RAR programs. These will open in your default video multimedia library. You can now play and watch the videos that are contained in your RAR archives.

References

• FILExt: File Extension RAR

Resources

• UnRarX: UnRarX - Mac OS X RAR Extracter
• cnet.com: RAR Expander for Mac
• StuffIt: Free StuffIt Expander