Extract Single File from Multi-Volume RAR Part

This article explains whether the unrar utility can extract files that reside entirely within a single volume of a multi-part RAR archive. While multi-volume archives are intended to be extracted starting from the first part, extracting individual files from standalone parts is possible under specific archiving conditions. The success of this operation depends entirely on whether the archive was created using solid compression and whether the target file spans across volume boundaries.

Yes, unrar can extract a file from a single part of a multi-volume archive, provided the file is completely contained within that part and the archive was created as non-solid.

Archive Type Requirements

  1. Non-Solid Archives (Supported): In a standard, non-solid multi-volume archive, each file is compressed independently. If a file begins and ends inside a single volume (such as archive.part2.rar), that volume contains all the necessary data and compression dictionary states required to decompress the file. You do not need the preceding or succeeding parts.

  2. Solid Archives (Not Supported): If the archive was created using the solid flag (-s), the compression algorithm treats all files across all volumes as one continuous data stream. Decompressing any file inside a later volume requires the dictionary state generated by all previous files. In this case, unrar cannot extract the file from an isolated part and will demand the first volume and all subsequent volumes up to that point.

  3. Spanned Files (Not Supported): If a single file starts in one part and ends in another, it cannot be extracted without all parts containing its segments.

How to Extract the File

To extract a self-contained file from a specific volume using the command line, point unrar directly at the specific part file rather than the first part:

unrar e archive.part2.rar specific_file.txt

To extract while preserving the internal directory structure, use the x command instead:

unrar x archive.part2.rar specific_file.txt

If the archive is non-solid and the specified file is self-contained within that part, unrar will unpack the file successfully without prompting for archive.part1.rar or subsequent volumes. If prompted for other volumes, the archive is either solid, or the requested file spans across adjacent archive boundaries.