As .RAR files are not files of multimedia type, you cannot play them straight away. The .RAR file, much like a .tar or a .zip, is an archive which can comprise of one of multiple compressed files. You can extract these files from the archive and play them in an audio or video player that you like.

How to Extract and Play RAR Files?

One of the best known applications for extracting RAR files is WinRAR – which is a piece of shareware software. If you have this application installed onto your system, you can easily play .RAR files in three easy steps. Simply right click on the file and choose the “Extract Here” option from the menu. This will extract all the files of the archive folder in the exact folder as the .RAR file. You can spot the multimedia files that have been made with extensions like .mp3, .mpg or .avi. You can right-click on any file and choose to play it any media player that is set up on your system.

Can You Play Partially Downloaded RAR Video Files?

On websites like Rapid share, you can often come across a large video file that is split into many RAR files of smaller sizes. If you get all the file parts you can play the video in the process mentioned above. But even if you find some parts of the files broken or missing, you can at least be able to play a part of the video that is there.

How Can You Play Partially Downloaded RAR Video Files?

In a few steps you can be able to preview the video. You have to find the first of the files of .RAR extensions. Based on the WinRAR version that has been used to make them, the first file is likely to have “Part 1” or “01” in its name while other files will be named Part 2, Part 3 or .r01, .r02 etc. It may also be that the first file will be the only one with the .RAR extension. You have to right-click on the file and select the “Extract Files” option from the menu. You will be displayed a dialog box.

You have to tick the checkbox reading “Keep broken files”. Then click OK and you have to wait for the files to be decompressed. Do not be worried as an error message will finally be displayed; click the Cancel button. You will now have a video file that will be able to play in all video players which support playing of broken files. Windows Media Player is unable to play broken files. how to open rar files like these? You have to download the VLC media player, a freeware player which can easily play RAR video files.