Using WinRAR to compress and decompress Zip, RAR and other files is very easy. It is a program that allows us to compress hundreds of files or folders into one. We will see how to use it and what options it has available to us below..
How to start using WinRAR
The first thing we will have to do is download the application from the official website . The first time we install the program, it will ask us to associate it with certain extensions, which would be ideal.
If we are not using other compression software, then we will have to click on “Select all”. Otherwise, we can limit ourselves to choosing the extensions that suit us..
Selecting where to create and share files is also feasible, as well as Shell integration. This will give us the possibility to use the WinRAR right click commands to be able to compress and decompress files. Something quite useful and comfortable.
Once we finish this, we are simply going to have to click on “Done”..
How to use WinRAR
Although WinRAR has a huge number of options, most users just need to know the basics in order to use the program. Likewise, we can always open WinRAR help files to get more information about different functions.
The first thing we will do is create our own compressed file, we can do this with any kind of files (images, videos, documents, etc.) We can even do it with folders. Compressing files is a good way to save space, condense volumes, and easily send them across different applications.
There are two ways to compress one or more elements. We start by right clicking one or more files, even a folder, and we will see in the context menu that a few options related to WinRAR will appear.
Next, we are going to click on “Add to (folder name)”.
Depending on the number of files in that folder or the ones we have selected, it may take longer to compress and create the file. So we'll just let WinRAR do its thing.
Once the zip file is created, we are going to have to right click on it to unzip it and test how it works. We can extract them to where they currently are or we can extract them to another folder.
Obviously, if we know that the compressed file has a huge number of documents, it would be best to extract it to a new folder to avoid complications. Imagine that you are trying to unzip a file that has more than 100 images on your desktop.
So we will right click on the WinRAR file and we will select “Extract files”.
This will open a new window so you can review the contents of the zip file. As long as the file is not compressed by password, we can drag and drop the files or folders anywhere on our computer.
The software options menu
Now, from the main screen of WinRAR, we are going to click on “Archive”. From here we will have a wide variety of options at our disposal, such as saving a copy of the file, setting a password, moving them, etc.
We are going to click on “Commands”. This new menu will give us the possibility to add files to the file that we have opened, among other options.
Now, we are going to click on “Tools”. This allows us to open the Wizard that will guide us through creating a file. It is also possible to scan, convert and repair files.
In "Favorites", we will find the possibility of adding files to our favorites. It would not be the most important feature of the program; although if we work with many files, it is a good way to keep them organized.
If we click on “Options” we can see all the program options, change the theme, view logs, etc.
Finally, the "Help" menu where we can see the program's help files, in case we need to access information about it.
