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Which archive formats open in the browser?

The archive formats Arkelo opens and creates: ZIP, 7Z, RAR, TAR, GZIP, ISO and CAB; passwords, conversion and size limits.

By Ahmet Samet Yüzlü

2 min read

Arkelo opens archives inside the browser, without uploading them to a server. Archives are processed on this device with the WebAssembly build of 7-Zip and with zip.js. Below is which formats can be opened and which can be created.

What opens

  • ZIP (including zip64): password-protected archives with AES and ZipCrypto also open.
  • 7Z: including password-protected archives.
  • RAR (RAR4 and RAR5): including password-protected archives.
  • TAR, TAR.GZ, TAR.XZ, TAR.BZ2 and single-file GZIP.
  • ISO and CAB.

The format is recognised by the content, not by the file name; an archive with the wrong extension also opens.

What can be created

ZIP, 7Z, TAR, TAR.GZ, TAR.XZ, TAR.BZ2 and GZIP. The compression levels are Store, Fast, Normal and Best. GZIP is for a single file; if several items are selected, they are archived as TAR.GZ.

A password can be set only on ZIP and 7Z archives; both use AES-256. In 7Z, file names are encrypted as well, so someone who does not know the password cannot see the names of the files inside the archive either.

Why is RAR open-only?

The RAR extraction code comes under the unRAR licence, which does not allow developing a RAR-compatible compressor. A RAR archive can be converted to ZIP or 7Z with Archive › Convert…; no temporary folder is needed.

Limits

ZIP and single-file GZIP are streamed to disk; large files cause no problems. 7Z, RAR and the TAR family are processed in memory; the practical limit is a few GB. The following are also not supported:

  • Multi-part archives (.001, .part1.rar, .z01).
  • Adding files to an existing archive, or deleting or renaming files in an archive.

Differences between browsers

In Chrome, Edge and Opera, files are extracted directly to the chosen folder, and a new archive is written to the chosen location. In Safari and Firefox, a single file is provided as a download, and multiple files as a single (uncompressed) ZIP file. It also opens in phone and tablet browsers.

Before extracting, Archive › Test integrity runs a CRC check on every file and lists damaged files.

Arkelo opens right away in the browser.