Windows 11 new preview version natively decompresses RAR and 7-Zip file experience

icrosoft announced at the Build 2023 developer conference in May that Win11 would natively support decompression of RAR and 7-Zip files. The company has now invited users to test this feature in the recently released Win11 Build 23493 preview update.

The new preview version of Win11 integrates the libarchive open source project, which can natively decompress the following file formats:

• .tar

• .tar.gz

• .tar.bz2

• .tar.zst

• .tar.xz

• .tgz

• .tbz2

• .tzst

• .txz

• .rar

• .7z

Compressed files in these formats are displayed as folders by default in the Win11 file manager. When a user double-clicks on a compressed file, the same decompression window that appears for ZIP files will pop up. The user can then follow the on-screen instructions to decompress the file.

It is important to note that the current Win11 system does not support decompression of encrypted compressed files. For example, if a user tries to decompress a password-protected 7Z file, the password verification window will not pop up. Instead, an error message will be displayed.