How To Open A Rar File In Google Drive

how to open rar file in google drive

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A RAR file is a cool file that can store multiple files inside it. But if you have a RAR file stored in Google Drive, you’d think you have to download the RAR file to your computer, open it there, and then re-upload the individual files back to Google Drive.

But actually, there’s a fairly easy way that you can open a RAR file directly within Google Drive without having to do any downloading or uploading. This is a huge time saver, and it’s so much easier than opening it on your computer, especially if you want to keep the individual files on Google Drive.

So without further ado, let’s get into the tutorial and find out how you can open a RAR file in Google Drive.

Prefer to watch a video about how to open a RAR file in Google Drive? Click here.

How To Open RAR Files In Google Drive

To open your RAR file within Google Drive, the first thing you’ll need to do is go to drive.google.com and sign in with your Google account if you haven’t already. Then, you’ll need to find your Rar file in Google Drive.

google drive rar

Once you’ve found your Rar file, you’ll need to double click on it to open it up. And now you’ll be able to see all the files that are inside the Rar file, but unfortunately, you still won’t be able to access any of them.

how to open a rar file in google drive

So to actually extract the files from the Rar file and be able to open and use them, you’ll need to use a third-party web app called “Zip Extractor” to extract them all.

There are actually a lot of different third-party apps you can use for this, but I’ve used Zip Extractor a lot and it always works very well and is reasonably simple to use so I’m going to show you how to open Rar files using Zip Extractor.

If you’ve used Zip Extractor in the past, it will already be connected to your Google Account and you’ll see this “Open with Zip Extractor” button above your Rar file:

unrar online google drive

And if that’s the case, you’ll be able to click here and skip down to where I show you how to actually open your Rar file, but if you don’t see this button, you’ll need to follow the steps below to add Zip Extractor to your Google Account.

Adding Zip Extractor To Google Drive

To add Zip Extractor to your Google Account, click on “Open With” at the top of the screen above your Rar file.

rar google drive

And then, in the menu that appears, click “Connect More Apps”.

how to extract rar file in google drive

Now, a popup will appear on the screen, and you’ll need to type “Zip Extractor” into the search box and press enter to search for Zip Extractor.

unrar google drive

Now, Zip Extractor will be the first result that comes up, and you’ll need to click on it to view all the details.

extract rar file google drive

And then, click on the “Install” button to add Zip Extractor to Google Drive (it’s just like installing an app).

google drive rar extractor

Now, you’ll see a popup message saying Zip Extractor needs your permission to start installing, and you’ll need to click “Continue” to continue.

how to extract rar in google drive

Now, a Google sign-in popup will appear and you’ll need to click on the Google Account you want to connect Zip Extractor to.

google drive extract rar

Now, you’ll need to choose the Google account permissions you want to give to Zip Extractor. It will need access to Google Drive in order to work properly, so make sure you tick the two Google Drive boxes…

rar extractor google drive

And then scroll down and click continue.

extract rar in google drive

And now, after all that, Zip Extractor will be added to Google Drive and you’ll finally be able to start extracting your Rar file!

I know it might seem like it’s not worth the effort, but you only have to do this process once and you will now be able to easily extract Rar files and Zip files in Google Drive whenever you want.

Extracting Your Rar File

Whether Zip Extractor was already connected to your Google Account, or you’ve connected it just now, you should now be ready to begin extracting your Rar file.

To do this, all you’ll need to do is click the “Open with Zip Extractor” button that shows up above your Rar file…

unrar online google drive

Now, it might take a few moments for it to load, but once it does, you’ll see a list of all the files that are inside your Rar file, and you’ll have the option to choose which ones you want to extract.

extract rar google drive

You’ll probably just want to extract all the files, and if that’s the case, you can just leave them all ticked. But if there are one or two files in the Rar file that you don’t want to extract, you can untick those files here.

Then, once you’ve chosen which files you want to extract, go ahead and click the blue “Extract” button, and it will begin extracting them.

rar file google drive

If your Rar file only contains a few small files like mine does, they should all be extracted in about 5 – 10 seconds, but if your Rar file contains a lot of large files, it could take quite a bit longer.

But regardless of how long it takes, once it’s done, the extract button will turn into a “View Files” button, and to see the extracted files in Google Drive, all you need to do is click “View Files”….

extract rar file in google drive

And you’ll be taken to a Google Drive folder with your extracted files!

how to open rar files on google drive

And these files are now completely out of the Rar file so you can do whatever you want with them just like any other normal files in Google Drive.

How To Find Your Extracted Files

Now that the files are extracted, you can obviously find them by clicking the “View Files” button in Zip Extractor, but if you want to find your extracted files again in the future, here’s how to find them.

Basically, the extracted files will be inside a Google Drive folder named Insert Rar File Name Here.rar (Unzipped Files), and that folder will be in the same location that your Rar file was originally in.

So for example, my Rar file was named Timmy’s Cool RAR File.rar, and it was just inside the main “My Drive” folder in Google Drive. So that means the extracted files will be inside a folder called Timmy’s Cool RAR File.rar (Unzipped Files), and that folder will be in “My Drive”.

open rar file in google drive

Once you’ve found the files, you can rename the folder, move the files out of the folder, or really do anything else you want, but that’s where you’ll find the files after they’re extracted.

And that’s all there is to it! I know this may seem overly complex the first time you do it, but once you’ve got Zip Extractor connected to your Google Account, and you’re familiar with how it all works, it’s really quite quick and easy to do.

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