Quick start: extracting files in Explorer or Desktop

If you did not disable the "Integrate WinRAR into shell" option when installing WinRAR, it is possible to extract files directly in a Windows shell. Press the right mouse button on archive icon, select "Extract files…" command, enter the destination folder in the dialog box and click the "OK" button. This dialog box offers a few advanced options (see Extraction path and options dialog for more information).

You may also select the "Extract to <folder name>" command to extract to the proposed folder name without additional requests or "Extract Here" to extract to the current folder.

If "Cascaded context menus" option in "Integration settings" dialog is on, commands listed above are available in "WinRAR" submenu. If this option is off, commands are placed to top level menu. But beginning from Windows 11, an application can add only a single top level item to Explorer context menu. So if "Cascaded context menus" is off, only one extraction command for archives and one archiving command for usual files are available. You can select these commands with "Context menu items..." button in "Integration settings" dialog.

Another method is to drag one or several archives using the right mouse button and drop them to the destination folder and then select "Extract Here" in the menu which will appear.