Window 11 gets support to open and create RAR, 7-zip, TAR, GZ

You will no longer need to install third-party tools on Windows 11 to open RAR, 7-zip, TAR, GZ files.

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@Pureinfotech
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Windows 11 Zip, 7z, RAR, TAR, GZ support
Windows 11 Zip, 7z, RAR, TAR, GZ support
  • Microsoft to bring support for more archive formats to Windows 11.
  • This means no more installing third-party apps to open RAR, 7-zip, TAR, and GZ files.
  • The new support should start rolling out soon as a preview to Insiders.

Microsoft has announced that soon Windows 11 will incorporate support for RAR, 7-zip, TAR, GZ, and many other archive formats natively. Currently, whether you use File Explorer, Command Prompt, or PowerShell, it’s only possible to compress or uncompress Zipped folders, and if you have to open other archive formats, you need third-party tools, such as 7-zip or WinRAR.

In the near future, this is about to change since the company has recently announced that it’s integrating the libarchive open-source project to bring support for tar, RAR, 7-zip, TAR, GZ, and many other formats to Windows 11. 

Although this is good news for users, it’s not a piece of pleasant news for companies like WinRAR that have been doing business with dedicated applications to manage archive formats.

According to the company, the new support should be available as a preview in the coming days to help users manage 7-zip, RAR, TAR, GZ, and other files without the need for installing third-party software.

While native support for more archive formats is on the way, Windows 11 had the ability to extract TAR and GZ files for some time. You can actually use these instructions right now.

Finally, the company says that the support to open these archive formats will be available sometime in September 2023, while the support to create RAR, 7-zip, TAR, GZ, and many other formats will be available sometime in 2024.

About the author
Avatar for Mauro Huculak

Mauro Huculak is a Windows expert and the Editor-in-Chief who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He is also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 12 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows, software, and related technologies, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 20 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me.