How to Set Password on RAR or ZIP File

RAR files are compressed archive files. It means they can contain hundreds of files in a single .rar file.

And because of that power RAR file size is smaller than the uncompressed files.

To make your archive files [RAR, ZIP, 7z, etc.] super secure, you just need to add encryption to them.

Add Password to RAR File in Windows

Create encrypted RAR with WinRAR

  1. First of all, install WinRAR on your windows pc,
  2. Now select the files and right-click on them.
  3. Now click on Add to archive...
  4. Then tap on Set password...
  5. Now type the password you want to apply on the RAR archive file.
  6. Finally hit OK [Your encrypted RAR file will be saved in the same folder as the files you selected for it.]

Add Password to an Existing RAR file

If you have an existing .rar file and want to protect it using a password. Then here are the steps you can follow to put passwords on RAR files that have already been set up with archive utility programs.
  1. Open the existing compressed RAR [or zip] file with WinRAR
  2. Press Alt+Q at the same time.
  3. Now Deselect all the file formats that are not RAR from Archive types window.
  4. Make sure the rar(1) checkbox remains selected.
  5. Then click on the Compression... option to open the Set default compression options window.
  6. Tap on Set password... button.
  7. Type a password for the archive file in the text box & click OK button.
  8. Now tap on Yes to provide confirmation to encrypt the archive you want.
  9. Then press the OK option to set the password to the RAR file archive.
That's how you can set a password on a new or existing RAR file.

If you have a password protected RAR file and forget its password then I highly recommend you to read this post - Open Password Protected RAR without Password.

Rate this article

Getting Info...