PeaZip provides full
read-write support (create, open and extract arc files) for FreeARC
ARC/WRC format
on Linux and Windows using FreeArc
as backend compression / extraction executable - please note SEA ARC is
a separate, non
compatible archive format.
Compress
to ARC format
To add
files/folders to a new archive or
into an existing .arc file
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Compress
to ARC from system file explorer
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Context menu
entry PeaZip > Add to archive, shows archive creation
screen, to set compression settings, output destination,
encryption (password protection), and other archiving options.
- Create
arc
files from PeaZip
From
archive creation screen it is also possible to apply encryption (Blowfish, Twofish, AES, and Serpent cyphers are supported) to
password-protect the archive, create
recovery records (which allows to recover mildly corrupted
archives), and to split
file - create
multiple volumes smaller than desired
maximum output size. From "Advanced" tab, it is possible to
further fine-tune compression settings.
Learn more about how to
create arc, tar, zip archive files
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Update
existing ARC archives
Easiest way to
update an existing ARC archive is opening it in PeaZip and
dragging files/folders to it, read more about how to update existing
archives.
Press cancel or "Delete from archive"
button to remove items already in archive, view also: add or delete data from
archive.
Converting
existing archives from / to
.arc format is possible using Convert
button,
which extracts and then re-pack input archive files, view faq about how to convert arc, rar, zip files
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Open ARC
files
Open arc
files in PeaZip with double click, or context menu "Open as archive"
entry,
that
will attempt to read any user provided file type regardless file
extension associations
Extract ARC
files
Decompress
ARC files from the system
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Context
menu PeaZip > Extract... shows archive
extraction screen, to set
output path, password (if needed) and other extraction options
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Select
one
or more archives and use
context
menu Extract here or Extract
here (to new folder) for quick extraction with no further
confirmation
Extract ARC files from PeaZip
application
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Extract
button shows archive
extraction screen providing access to all decompression options
-
Extract
all to... button starts
simplified
unpacking procedure, only asking for output path
- As alternative, simply drag & drop
from
the
application to the system the items you want to extract
Doubleclick
on
an archived file to
open
it in
preview
mode, to inspect its content before real
extraction
To
browse or extract a spanned (split) ARC file, save all the parts in
same
directory, open the first volume (.ARC.001 extension). |
Work
with encrypted ARC files
To create or extract
an encrypted
.arc file, enter
the password from the padlock icon, alternatively click Tools
>
Enter
password / keyfile in main menu, or F9 accelerator key.
Password
protected items are
marked by * sign after
filename.
ARC ecryption algorithm can be changed in Advanced tab,
supported cyphers are Blowfish (448bit
cypher with 64 bit blocks), Twofish256,
AES256 (default),
Serpent256.
Read more about how to create encrypted
archives and how to extract
encrypted archives
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ARC extension designates the native
archive format developed for FreeArc , a modern
open source file archiver created by Bulat Ziganshin, featuring high
level of compression (11 lossless data compression algorithms and
filtes are supported, including LZMA and PPMD) with good efficiency (Tom's
Hardware comparative)
comparable or better than rar format
and in many cases also of 7z format,
strong
encryption (AES, Blowfish, and AES contest finalist
algorithms Twofish, and Serpent), and ability to create
recovery records (option which is notably featured by proprietary RAR
format but not by open format 7Z). The file format is also known with WRC extension.
Maximum size of ARC
file
format
The max size of ARC
files is 2^63 bytes (8 exabytes of
total size of the archive), filesize field represented by a signed 64
bit integer, exceeding current needs and
limitations of common filesystems.
Maximum number of files
in a
single ARC archive
The maximum
number of input files allowed into a singe ARC package is limited to
2^31 (max 2 billion files), file number filed represented by a signed
32
bit integer, which - like maximum archive size limit - practically
exceeds current needs.
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FreeArc's
format must not be
confused
with 1985 SEA's ARC
format, using same .arc file extension. The
company pionereed the data
compression in BBS era, but ARC program fell in popularity after the
introduction of more efficient Phil Katz's PKARC, which later developed
largely modified and improved ZIP format for PKZIP program, in response
to the notorious lawsuit ensued between SEA and PKWARE. |
Types of files with
.arc extension supported by PeaZip
PeaZip features creation
and
extraction of ARC files: create, open, browse, and extract ARC
archives, convert any supported archive to .arc format and vice-versa.
Also, the application supports creation of arc-format self extracting
archives (SFX), so
recipient
will not need a FreeArc compatible extractor when receiving one of
those self-extracting files.
PeaZip currently does not support reading, nor writing, the unrelated
SEA's ARC format.
Read more .arc
file type FreeArc Wikipedia entry,
PPMd and LZMA/LZMA2 data
compression algorithms, AES, Twofish, Serpent ciphers.
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.ARC
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Author
Bulat Ziganshin, 2007
8 EB max total archive size limit
2 billions files limit in a single archive
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SPEED 
Arc format features good speed. Very efficient implementation makes it
significantly faster than
7Z
compression and extraction (and marginally faster than RAR), with
comparable compression ratio.
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COMPRESSION
RATIO 
Arc archives features very good compression ratio. Comparable to 7-Zip
with LZMA / LZMA2 compression,
consistently better than
RAR format, but inferior
to PAQ compressors family. |
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ADVANCED
OPTIONS
Arc format features a very good selection of advanced functions.
Built-in support for AES, Twofish and Serpent encryption,
and optional creation of recovery records - ARC is one of the few file
types alongside RAR providing error recovery feature.
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Synopsis: Work with
FreeArc ARC archives using PeaZip free compression and extraction
utility. How to manage, create, encrypt, open, extract (unzip) ARC
files on Windows and Linux machines. Update and convert existing ARC
archives. Specs and features of ARC file extension-
Topics: create ARC
files, open and extract ARC archives, FreeARC format specs
PeaZip > FAQ
> How to create, encrypt, open, extract ARC files
 WORK WITH
SUPPORTED
FILE TYPES
Create, open, extract 7Z files
Open and extract ACE files
Create, open, extract ARC files
Create, open, extract Brotli files
Compress, decompress Bzip2 files
Open and extract CAB files
Compress, decompress GZip files
Open and extract DMG, ISO, UDF disk images
Create, open, extract PAQ, LPAQ, ZPAQ files
PEA: Pack Encrypt Authenticate
Open
and extract RAR files
Create, open, extract
TAR, TGZ, TBZ files
Create, open, extract WIM disk images
Create, open, extract ZIP files
Create, open, extract ZIPX files
Create, open, extract
Zstandard files
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