Convert RAR to ZIP Online Free — No Upload, No WinRAR
RAR is a great compression format, but ZIP is universal. Every phone, laptop, and operating system can open a ZIP file without installing anything extra. Converting your RAR to ZIP means the person receiving it can open it on any device — no WinRAR license required, no error messages, no confusion.
FastZip converts RAR to ZIP entirely in your browser. Drop in your RAR file, click "Download all as ZIP", and you'll get a standard ZIP file ready to share. No file upload, no account, no software installation — just a fast, private conversion.
How the conversion works — FastZip extracts the contents of your RAR archive using WebAssembly (the same decompression library used by libarchive on Linux), then re-packages everything into a ZIP using fflate — a fast, pure-JavaScript ZIP library. The ZIP uses DEFLATE compression at level 6 (a good balance of speed and size). Your original RAR file is never transmitted anywhere.
Will the ZIP be a different size? — Almost certainly. RAR's compression algorithm (LZMA-based in RAR5) is generally more efficient than ZIP's DEFLATE compression for most file types. Your ZIP may be 10–30% larger than the original RAR for the same content. This is the trade-off for universal compatibility.
File permissions and metadata — RAR archives can store Unix file permissions, creation timestamps, and comments. ZIP stores modification timestamps but doesn't preserve Unix permissions in the same way. For general-purpose file sharing this makes no difference. For software distribution archives where permissions matter, keep the original RAR or TAR format.
Format & Feature Reference
| Property | Original RAR | Output ZIP |
|---|---|---|
| Compression algorithm | LZMA (RAR5) / RAR (RAR4) | DEFLATE |
| Typical size change | — | +10–30% larger |
| OS support | Needs WinRAR/The Unarchiver | Native on all OS |
| Password encryption | AES-256 | Not copied (for safety) |
| Folder structure | Preserved | Preserved |
| File timestamps | Preserved | Preserved |
| Max size (free tier) | 200 MB input | — |
When to Convert RAR to ZIP
Sharing with non-technical users — Most people don't have WinRAR or The Unarchiver installed. Sending a ZIP means they can just double-click it on Windows, macOS, iOS, or Android. No "how do I open a .rar file?" support request.
Email attachments — Some email systems block .rar files as a security measure (the extension is associated with malware distribution). ZIP files are far more widely accepted. Converting before attaching avoids delivery failures.
Cloud storage compatibility — Services like Google Drive, Dropbox, and iCloud can preview ZIP file contents natively in their web interfaces. RAR files typically appear as opaque blobs. Converting to ZIP means people can browse the contents online without downloading.
WinRAR trial expiry — WinRAR is technically free to use after the 40-day trial, but continues to show a nag screen. If you want to open your own RAR files without that friction, convert them to ZIP once and you'll never need WinRAR again.
Will I Lose Any Files During Conversion?
FastZip faithfully extracts every file from the RAR archive and includes all of them in the output ZIP. Folder structure is preserved. No files are skipped, renamed, or reordered.
The only metadata that doesn't transfer is encryption (passwords are not copied from the RAR to the ZIP — the output ZIP is unencrypted) and RAR-specific comments. File contents, names, timestamps, and directory hierarchy are all preserved exactly.
If you need the output ZIP to also be password-protected, consider using a tool like 7-Zip on your desktop after downloading the converted ZIP.