How to Ignore Comments in unrar

This guide explains how to prevent archive comments from displaying when using the unrar command-line utility. When extracting or listing RAR files containing embedded notes, the utility outputs them to the console by default. You can suppress these messages entirely by using a single command switch, keeping your terminal output clean and preventing disruptions in automated scripts.

The Command Switch

To completely ignore and disable archive comments in unrar, use the -c- switch.

The standard -c switch is used to show or manage comments, and appending a minus sign (-) disables the display of the archive comment entirely.

Basic Extraction Syntax

To extract an archive with full directory paths while ignoring any embedded comments, run:

unrar x -c- archive.rar

To extract files into the current directory without subfolders:

unrar e -c- archive.rar

Listing Archive Contents Without Comments

You can also suppress comments when viewing the contents of an archive:

unrar l -c- archive.rar

or for technical details:

unrar v -c- archive.rar

Combining with Quiet Mode

If you are running unrar within shell scripts and want to suppress comments alongside standard progress indicators, you can combine -c- with quiet switches:

unrar x -c- -idq archive.rar
  • -c-: Disables comment output.
  • -idq: Enables quiet mode, printing only error messages.