Shell and command line modes

WinRAR provides both the graphical shell mode with standard Windows interface and the command line mode. Double click on WinRAR icon to start WinRAR shell, then use buttons and menus for archiving and extracting. See topics below for step-by-step instructions.

• How to extract files using WinRAR shell mode
• How to archive files using WinRAR shell mode

WinRAR command line mode can be invoked through Windows command prompt or "Run…" window, where the command text shall be entered. Simple examples of archiving and extraction commands are available in topics below. More detailed command line mode description is provided in Command line mode topic. Running WinRAR in the command line without parameters activates the shell mode.

• How to extract files using the command line mode
• How to archive files using the command line mode

If you hadn't disabled "Integrate WinRAR into shell" option when installing WinRAR, it is also possible to extract and archive files directly in Windows Explorer or Desktop. See following topics for details.

• How to extract files in Explorer or Desktop
• How to archive files in Explorer or Desktop