Display RAR Archive Comments Using unrar

This article explains how to view the embedded comment of a RAR archive from the command line using the unrar utility. You will learn the exact command syntax, how to handle password-protected archives, and how to suppress unnecessary output to view only the comment text.

The Command to Show Archive Comments

The dedicated command to display an archive comment in unrar is the c command.

unrar c archive.rar

Replace archive.rar with the path to your target RAR file. When executed, unrar reads the metadata of the specified archive and prints the stored comment directly to the terminal standard output.

Syntax and Options

The basic syntax for the command is:

unrar c [switches] <archive-name>

Viewing Comments in Password-Protected Archives

If the archive or its header is encrypted with a password, you can supply the password directly using the -p switch:

unrar c -pSecretPassword archive.rar

Note: Do not leave a space between -p and your password.

Suppressing Banner Output

By default, unrar prints software version and copyright information before displaying the comment. To suppress this header and display a cleaner output, use the -idq (quiet mode) or -inul (disable messages) switch:

unrar c -idq archive.rar

This is particularly useful when scripting or piping the archive comment into other command-line tools.