In this post, we will show you how to split or combine RAR files on a Windows 11/10 PC. There are many file compression/archiver software that allow you to split or combine RAR files in Windows 11. While both allow combining individual files or collections of files into a single compressed archive, file archiver software offers a wider range of features to organize, manage, and manipulate files and folders within compressed archives.
How to Split or Combine RAR files in Windows 11
To split or combine RAR files in Windows 11/10, you may use WinRAR, a popular file compression/archiver software for Windows. The compression algorithm in WinRAR allows you to split a large file into multiple smaller volumes during the archive process. After that, you may move the archived volumes to whatever location you want, extract/unzip them there, and combine them back into a single file.
WinRAR is a proprietary software. It offers a trial version that allows users to use the software for 40 days without purchasing a license. After the trial period expires, you can continue using WinRAR for free, but you will encounter a notification prompt to buy a license.
1] Split files into multivolume RAR archives using WinRAR
Download WinRAR for Windows from its official website using this link. Once the file is downloaded, double-click to install the software on your PC.
Next, open File Explorer and navigate to the file you want to split into multiple parts/volumes. Right-click on the file and select WinRAR > Add to archive. If you want to split multiple files/folders, select all of them by highlighting them in the File Explorer windows and then select WinRAR > Add to archive.
Archive name and parameters dialogue will appear. Select RAR under Archive format. Under ‘Split to volume, size‘, specify the size of volumes (in B/KB/MB/GB) you want to split the file into. You can use the dropdowns to select predefined values or enter the size manually.
Click OK. WinRAR will start creating the archives. You will see the progress of conversion.
Once WinRAR finishes processing the files, split RAR files will appear in the destination folder named with extensions like ‘.part1.rar’, .’part2.rar’, etc.
If you have an already compressed (.rar) file, you can split/convert it into multivolumes through the WinRAR UI.
Open WinRAR and navigate to the folder that contains the RAR file. Click on the Tools menu on top and select Convert archives.
In the Convert archives window, click the Compression button. In the next window, enter the desired size for the multivolume archives under the ‘Split to volume, size‘ option. Click OK to close the current window. Click OK again to begin the conversion.
You will see the progress of conversion after which the converted/split archives will appear in the chosen destination folder. You may now hit the Close button to close the conversion prompt.
2] Combine RAR files in Windows 11 using WinRAR
If you have multiple RAR archives, you can combine them into a single file. You just need to make sure that you have WinRAR installed on your system and all the files have been placed in the same folder before you start processing the files.
A] Unpack/Combine multivolume RAR archives
Open WinRAR and navigate to the directory where your split RAR volumes are located. Right-click on the first volume of the file and select WinRAR > Extract Here. WinRAR will automatically detect the rest of the volumes and combine the split RAR files into the original file.
Note: Make sure all the volumes are present in the same directory. If even a single volume is missing, WinRAR will fail to unpack the multivolume archive due to incomplete archive parts.
B] Merge/Combine multiple RAR archives
Navigate to the folder containing the RAR files. Select all the archives and make a right mouse click. Select WinRAR > Add to archive from the context menu.
‘Archive name and parameters’ window will appear. Enter a suitable name for the final archive, select RAR as Archive format, and click OK to process the files.
C] Add/Combine a RAR file into an already existing archive
Open WinRAR and click on the Wizard icon in the toolbar on top. Select Add files to already existing archive in the Wizard prompt and click on the Next button. A new window will appear. Browse and select the desired file and click on OK. Click Next to continue using the Wizard.
On the following screen, click the Browse button to select the archive that needs to be updated and click the Next button. Click Finish to finish processing the archive.
Tip: You may also use this wizard to create a new archive or unpack existing archives.
D] Extract and Re-compress/Combine RAR archives
If you want to combine two or more RAR files, you can extract and re-compress them using WinRAR.
Create a new folder and put all the RAR archives into it. Right-click on the first archive and select WinRAR > Extract Here. Similarly, extract the rest of the archives in the same folder (you may extract the archives in their source folder, but creating a new folder makes things easier).
Select all the extracted files and make a right mouse click. Select WinRAR > Add to archive. Enter a name for the final archive, select RAR as Archive format, and click on OK to combine the files.
That’s all! I hope you find this useful.
How do I split a RAR file into two parts?
Download and Install WinRAR. Open WinRAR and navigate to the RAR file you want to split. Select Tools > Convert archives. Click on the Compression option in the window that appears and specify the size as half of the original RAR file size in the ‘Split to volumes, size‘ field. Keep the Archive format as ‘RAR‘ and click OK.
Does Windows 11 have RAR extractor?
Microsoft has recently released an optional KB5031455 Preview cumulative update for Windows 11 22H2, that adds native support for various archive formats in Windows 11, including RAR. You need to manually install this update after which you will be able to open ‘.rar’ files (which are not password encrypted) without installing any third-party software on your system.