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How to Lock and Unlock a Password Protected RAR File

By Hally | Last Updated

RAR is a usual file format usually used to reduce the file size and improve transfer speed. While a folder is ready to be compressed as RAR archive, a password can be set at the same time to lock RAR file. Similarly, when others receive password protected RAR file, they should unlock RAR file with password they know at first, otherwise they cannot see what are compressed in RAR archive. How to lock RAR file with password, and how to unlock password protected RAR file suppose RAR password forgot or lost? In this passage, we will talk about it in two parts.

  1. Part 1: How to Lock RAR File with Password
  2. Part 2: Unlock Password Protected RAR File without Password

How to Lock RAR File with Password?

1. Open WinRAR and navigate to path where the folder is located or the files are saved.

navigate to files location in winrar

2. Select files or folder you want to compress as RAR archive and click Add button in toolbar.

add files to rar archive

3. In Archive name and parameters window, name the RAR archive in Archive name box under General tab.

set rar archive name

4. Click Advanced tab and Set password to lock RAR file.

set rar archive password

5. Enter password and Reenter password for verification. Click OK to lock RAR file with password.

lock rar archive file

At last, a RAR file will be created and locked with a password you type in above steps. From then on, only the password can open or extract this locked RAR file. Therefore, if you don't have RAR file password, you will be probably locked out of it. But whether it means that we cannot unlock password protected RAR file without password? Surely it is not.

How to Unlock Password Protected RAR File without Password?

This part will talk about how to unlock RAR password protected file when you don't know RAR password. Please follow article below to solve it with rar password unlocker, RAR Password Genius.

Step 1: Download RAR Password Genius Standard, install and run it on your computer.

Tips: Surely RAR Password Genius Professional also could unlocking RAR file. It would work better than Standard version when you have more CPU cores or computers in LAN to recover locked rar file password.

Step 2: Click Open button. Browse computer and select encrypted RAR file to add into RAR Password Genius.

Step 3: Select one password recovery type in Type of attack. And make settings for encrypted RAR file.

unlock password protected rar file

Step 4: Click Start button. And RAR Password Genius begins to work to recover RAR file password.

After you click "Start" button, RAR Password Genius will automatically run and recover password protected RAR file password. About few seconds or minutes later, RAR file password will be recovered and shown in a new dialog if there is nothing else wrong.

recover locked rar file password successfully

Step 5: Copy RAR file recovered password and unlock password protected RAR archive with it.

1. Click Copy and Open button on RAR Password Recovered dialog.

2. Encrypted RAR file will be open in WinRAR (default program set to open RAR file).

3. While you want to open files saved in encrypted RAR file or want to extract this RAR file, a dialog would pop up and ask for password. Paste password you copied and click OK to unlock encrypted RAR file.

unlock password protected RAR file with recovered password

Tips: Besides software to unlock encrypted RAR file, there is another free way to unlock RAR file. You can try it. But it only supports numeric password, probably would cost lots of time even damage locked RAR file. The most important point is that it cannot guarantee encrypted RAR file can be unlocked successfully. So between free way notepad and RAR Password Genius, I will choose the latter one.

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