Goodbye WinRAR: Windows 11 will finally support RAR files natively

Microsoft has kickstarted off their annual Microsoft Build developer conference, and while there’s a slew of new AI related features from the Redmond company, one particular announcement from them caught our attention. In a blog post about Windows 11’s upcoming features, Microsoft has revealed that they are finally adding native support for more archive formats which include RAR, 7-Zip, tar, GZ and more.

According to Panos Panay, Microsoft’s Chief Product Officer for Windows and Devices, they have finally added native support for a bunch of archive formats using the libarchive open source project into Windows 11. This means that you can now have a better experience when using the archive functionality across Windows, and won’t have to install third party programs such as the iconic WinRAR to open compressed files that isn’t using the regular ZIP format.

Don’t uninstall WinRAR just yet though as native support for the additional archive formats won’t be coming to your PC so soon, with the update coming to Windows Insider preview builds first later this week.

On top of the native support for RAR, there are a number of other non-AI related Windows 11 features coming to your computer soon. This includes the ability to tear out your tabs on Windows Terminal which should help developers track their various shells accordingly. You’ll also soon be able to hide the time and date on your PC with a quick setting on the taskbar itself; this ought to be helpful for when you’re screen recording or if you just want to stay focused. Windows 11 will also soon allow you to shut down programs with just a right click on the app directly off the taskbar without opening the Task Manager, as well as identify and access any instance of an app on the task bar easier with just a click.

For more about the new features coming to Windows 11, you can check out Panay’s full blog post on the Windows Developer Blog here.