How to Install UNRAR on Linux Mint 22 and 21

RAR archives still show up in game mods, software downloads, and old backup sets, but Linux Mint does not ship a dedicated RAR extractor by default. Linux Mint users can install unrar from the default repositories for current WinRAR and RAR5 archives, while the separate rar package handles archive creation when you need it.

Standard Linux Mint desktop installs already include nemo-fileroller and file-roller, so once unrar is in place Nemo can use the same backend for right-click extraction without extra plugins.

Choose the Right UNRAR Package on Linux Mint

Linux Mint offers two RAR extraction packages with different format coverage and licensing. The proprietary unrar package handles current RAR and RAR5 archives, while unrar-free stays open-source but gives up support for newer archive features.

Feature	unrar (Proprietary)	unrar-free (GPL)
RAR5 support	Yes	No
RAR3/RAR4 support	Full	Partial (basic RAR3 only)
Password-protected archives	Yes	Legacy RAR only
Multi-volume archives	Yes	No
Repository	multiverse	universe

Most Linux Mint systems should use unrar because current downloads and WinRAR-created archives often rely on RAR5, multi-volume sets, or other features that unrar-free does not handle reliably. Keep unrar-free for open-source-only workflows or older archives where those limits do not matter.

If your search started with WinRAR for Linux Mint, treat unrar and rar as the native command-line pieces. RARLAB’s Linux tools are command-line only, so Nemo integration comes from Mint’s archive tools plus the installed extractor, not a WinRAR desktop window.

Install UNRAR on Linux Mint

Refresh your package lists before installing unrar. Open a terminal from the applications menu or by pressing your configured keyboard shortcut, then run:

sudo apt update

These commands use sudo for tasks that need root privileges. If your user is not in the sudoers file yet, follow how to create and add users to sudoers on Linux Mint.

Install UNRAR with Full RAR Support on Linux Mint

Install the proprietary unrar package from the Multiverse repository. This is the package most readers want for modern WinRAR and RAR5 archives:

sudo apt install unrar

Verify the installation by running unrar without arguments to display its version and available commands. Relevant output includes:

unrar

UNRAR 7.00 freeware      Copyright (c) 1993-2024 Alexander Roshal

Usage:     unrar <command> -<switch 1> -<switch N> <archive> <files...>
               <@listfiles...> <path_to_extract/>

<Commands>
  e             Extract files without archived paths
  l[t[a],b]     List archive contents [technical[all], bare]
  p             Print file to stdout
  t             Test archive files
  v[t[a],b]     Verbosely list archive contents [technical[all],bare]

Mint 22 currently offers unrar 1:7.0.7-1build1 from noble/multiverse, while Mint 21 installs 1:6.1.5-1ubuntu0.1 from jammy-updates/multiverse and still shows the older UNRAR 6.11 beta 1 banner. The command syntax stays the same on both supported Mint releases.

Install RAR for Archive Creation on Linux Mint

If you need to create new .rar archives instead of only extracting them, install the separate rar package from Multiverse:

sudo apt install rar

Verify the archiver by running rar without arguments. Relevant output includes:

rar

RAR 7.00   Copyright (c) 1993-2024 Alexander Roshal   26 Feb 2024
Trial version             Type 'rar -?' for help

Usage:     rar <command> -<switch 1> -<switch N> <archive> <files...>
               <@listfiles...> <path_to_extract/>

<Commands>
  a             Add files to archive
  c             Add archive comment
  ch            Change archive parameters
  cw            Write archive comment to file

Mint 22 currently offers rar 2:7.00-1build1, while Mint 21 offers 2:6.23-1~22.04.1. That gives Linux Mint the closest native equivalent to the WinRAR archive-creation workflow without leaving the default repositories.

Install UNRAR-Free on Linux Mint

If you need an open-source extractor and only work with older RAR files, install unrar-free from Universe instead. This package cannot extract RAR5 archives or multi-volume splits:

sudo apt install unrar-free

Verify the installation:

unrar-free --help

Usage: unrar-free [OPTION...] ARCHIVE [FILE...] [DESTINATION]
Extract files from rar archives.

  -x, --extract              Extract files from archive (default)
  -t, --list                 List files in archive
  -f, --force                Overwrite files when extracting
      --extract-newer        Only extract newer files from the archive
      --extract-no-paths     Don't create directories while extracting
  -p, --password             Decrypt archive using a password
  -?, --help                 Give this help list
      --usage                Give a short usage message
  -V, --version              Print program version

The unrar-free package uses GNU-style double-dash options instead of the proprietary unrar switches such as x, l, and t. On current Mint 21.x systems, unrar-free also registers the plain unrar command through update-alternatives, so the command name alone does not tell you which implementation is active. A simple Mint 21 test can still open a password-protected legacy RAR4 archive with unrar-free, but newer encrypted RAR5 archives still need the proprietary package.

Extract RAR Archives with UNRAR on Linux Mint

Use the proprietary unrar package for these examples. Replace archive.rar with your actual file name, and start with unrar l or unrar t when you want to inspect an unfamiliar archive first.

Task	Command Pattern	What It Does
List contents	unrar l archive.rar	Shows files before extraction.
Test integrity	unrar t archive.rar	Checks the archive without writing files.
Extract with folders	unrar x archive.rar	Preserves archived directory paths.
Extract flat	unrar e archive.rar	Drops all files into one directory.
Print one text file	unrar p archive.rar path/file.txt	Writes a file’s contents to the terminal.

Preview and Test a RAR Archive Before Extraction

List the files in an archive before extraction. This is a safer first check when the archive came from a download, email, or shared folder:

unrar l archive.rar

Test archive integrity without extracting files. A clean test ends with All OK:

unrar t archive.rar

Extract a RAR Archive from the Terminal

Extract files while preserving the directory structure inside the archive. This is the normal choice for software bundles, game mods, backups, and archives that contain folders:

unrar x archive.rar

Extract to a specific directory by creating the target folder first, then appending that path as the final argument:

mkdir -p extracted
unrar x archive.rar extracted/

Extract all files into one directory without preserving folders. Use this only when you are sure duplicate filenames will not overwrite or collide with each other:

mkdir -p extracted-flat
unrar e archive.rar extracted-flat/

Extract Selected Files or Split RAR Archives

Extract one file by using the exact path shown by unrar l. This keeps the rest of the archive untouched:

mkdir -p extracted
unrar x archive.rar docs/readme.txt extracted/

For multi-part RAR sets, keep every part in the same directory and run unrar against the first volume only. Many newer sets start with archive.part1.rar, while older sets can start with a base archive.rar file followed by numbered parts:

mkdir -p extracted
unrar x archive.part1.rar extracted/

Extract Password-Protected RAR Archives

Extract a password-protected archive with an interactive prompt. The -p flag avoids shell interpretation problems when the password contains characters such as !, $, or &:

mkdir -p extracted
unrar x -p archive.rar extracted/

Extract RAR Files with UNRAR in Nemo on Linux Mint

Standard Linux Mint desktop installs already include nemo-fileroller and file-roller, so unrar is usually the only missing piece for right-click extraction. After installing it, right-click a .rar file in Nemo and choose Extract Here or Extract To.

If Nemo still fails on a recent archive while unrar-free is active, switch to the proprietary unrar package with the troubleshooting checks for Nemo errors.

If you work with ZIP archives alongside RAR files, use unzip command examples in Linux for extracting .zip files from the terminal.

Create RAR Archives with RAR on Linux Mint

The rar package is optional and only needed when you must create .rar files for another system or workflow. It is a shareware command-line archiver, so use it when RAR output is required rather than as the default format for normal Linux-only backups.

Create an archive from specific files with the a command. Replace report.txt and notes.txt with files that already exist in your current directory:

rar a documents.rar report.txt notes.txt

Create an archive from a folder tree with -r, which tells rar to recurse into subdirectories. Replace project with the directory you want to archive:

rar a -r project-backup.rar project

After creating an archive, test it with unrar before you delete or move the original files:

unrar t project-backup.rar

Update UNRAR and RAR on Linux Mint

Linux Mint updates these packages through APT and Update Manager because they come from the default Ubuntu-base repositories. If you prefer the terminal, refresh package metadata first:

sudo apt update

Upgrade the proprietary extractor when an update is available:

sudo apt install --only-upgrade unrar

Run only the command that matches another installed RAR package on your system:

sudo apt install --only-upgrade rar
sudo apt install --only-upgrade unrar-free

Troubleshoot UNRAR Issues on Linux Mint

Most Linux Mint UNRAR problems come from missing Multiverse access, the wrong extractor owning the unrar command, or newer archives outpacing the package on older Mint releases. In the commands that follow, replace archive.rar with the file that produced the error.

Fix Nemo “Command Exited Abnormally” Errors with UNRAR on Linux Mint

If Nemo shows Command exited abnormally or An error occurred while extracting files, the archive integration is usually present but the RAR backend is missing or too old for the file you opened. On standard Mint desktops, nemo-fileroller and file-roller are already installed, so start by refreshing package metadata and installing the current unrar package:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install unrar

Test the same archive from the terminal. If the test passes, retry the right-click extraction in Nemo:

unrar t archive.rar

If the terminal test reports an unsupported archive format, check command ownership with update-alternatives --display unrar. Current WinRAR and RAR5 archives should use the proprietary unrar package instead of unrar-free.

Fix “Package ‘unrar’ Has No Installation Candidate” with UNRAR on Linux Mint

This error appears when the Multiverse repository is not enabled for the proprietary unrar package:

E: Package 'unrar' has no installation candidate

Enable Multiverse and retry the installation:

sudo add-apt-repository multiverse
sudo apt update
sudo apt install unrar

You can also enable Multiverse through the Software Sources application under Official Repositories if the command-line method fails. If you only need an open-source extractor, unrar-free remains available from Universe.

Fix “unrar: command not found” Errors with UNRAR on Linux Mint

This error means the package is not installed on your system:

bash: unrar: command not found

Install either unrar or unrar-free. On Mint 21, unrar-free also provides the plain unrar command through update-alternatives, so if the command is missing entirely neither implementation is active yet.

sudo apt install unrar

Fix “Unsupported Archive Format” Errors with UNRAR-Free on Linux Mint

When unrar-free encounters a RAR5 archive, it produces this error because it lacks RAR5 support:

unrar-free: archive.rar: Unsupported archive format

Check which implementation currently owns the unrar command:

update-alternatives --display unrar

unrar - auto mode
  link best version is /usr/bin/unrar-free
  link currently points to /usr/bin/unrar-free
  link unrar is /usr/bin/unrar
  slave unrar.1.gz is /usr/share/man/man1/unrar.1.gz
/usr/bin/unrar-free - priority 30
  slave unrar.1.gz: /usr/share/man/man1/unrar-free.1.gz

If unrar-free owns the link and you need current RAR5 or WinRAR archives, install the proprietary package. Linux Mint switches the unrar link back to /usr/bin/unrar-nonfree automatically:

sudo apt install unrar

Retest the archive with the proprietary extractor before returning to Nemo or another archive manager:

unrar t archive.rar

Fix “Unsupported Block Header Size” Errors with UNRAR on Linux Mint

This usually means the archive was created by a newer RAR release than the package on your system, or the file itself is damaged:

Unsupported block header size

Refresh package metadata and install the newest unrar build available on your Mint release:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install --only-upgrade unrar

Mint 22 ships a newer unrar 7.0.7 package than Mint 21’s 6.1.5, so Mint 21 is more likely to hit this on recent archives. If the error survives the upgrade, re-download the archive and test it again:

unrar t archive.rar

A repeated failure after a fresh download usually means the archive needs a newer extractor than your Mint release provides, or the source archive is damaged.

Fix “Declared Dictionary Size Is Not Supported” with UNRAR on Linux Mint

RAR 7 archives can use larger dictionary sizes than older unrar packages understand. This is more common on Mint 21 because its default package is older:

Declared dictionary size is not supported

Upgrade unrar to the latest version available for your release:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install --only-upgrade unrar

Retest the archive after the upgrade:

unrar t archive.rar

If the upgraded package still cannot open the archive, ask the archive creator to re-compress it with a smaller dictionary size or a more compatible RAR format.

Fix Incorrect Password Errors with UNRAR on Linux Mint

Password-protected archives display this error when the password is wrong or contains special characters that the shell interprets:

Encrypted file:  CRC failed in archive.rar (password incorrect ?)

Double-check the password for typos. If the password contains special characters like !, $, or &, use the interactive prompt without appending the password, which avoids shell interpretation issues:

mkdir -p extracted
unrar x -p archive.rar extracted/

If the prompt still rejects a known-good password, re-download the archive from the source and try again.

Remove UNRAR and RAR from Linux Mint

Remove the package you installed, then clean up any dependencies that are no longer required.

sudo apt remove unrar

For unrar-free:

sudo apt remove unrar-free

For the archive-creation package:

sudo apt remove rar

Finish by removing orphaned dependencies:

sudo apt autoremove

Confirm the package is gone with apt-cache policy unrar. After removal, the important line is Installed: (none). Use the same command with unrar-free or rar if you removed those packages instead:

apt-cache policy unrar | sed -n '1,4p'

unrar:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 1:7.0.7-1build1
  Version table:

Mint 21 shows older candidate versions, but the verification line stays Installed: (none) on both supported releases. These packages do not keep system configuration files, so apt remove and apt purge end in the same state on a standard Mint desktop.

Conclusion

UNRAR is ready on Linux Mint for terminal extraction, and standard Nemo desktops can use the same backend for right-click .rar files. If you also need to build new RAR archives, keep the separate rar package installed, and if the download turns out to be ZIP instead use unzip command examples in Linux.