How to View Compression Ratio in Unrar
This article explains how to inspect the contents of a RAR archive
from the command line and view the exact compression ratio of archived
files as a percentage. Using the appropriate unrar listing
command, you can quickly evaluate how efficiently individual files and
entire archives have been compressed.
The Command
To display file details including the compression ratio as a
percentage, use the verbose list (v) command:
unrar v archive.rarReplace archive.rar with the path to your RAR file.
How It Works
The v argument instructs unrar to produce a
verbose listing of the archive's contents. In this mode, the output is
formatted as a table containing the following columns:
- Attributes: File system permissions and flags.
- Size: The uncompressed size of the file in bytes.
- Packed: The compressed size of the file in bytes.
- Ratio: The compression ratio represented as a
percentage (e.g.,
45%). - Date & Time: File timestamp.
- Checksum: CRC32 or BLAKE2 checksum.
- Name: The filename and path inside the archive.
At the bottom of the table, unrar provides a summary row
indicating the total uncompressed size, total packed size, and overall
archive compression ratio percentage.
Alternative: Technical Verbose Listing
If you need a detailed breakdown for each individual file rather than
a condensed table, use the vt (verbose technical)
switch:
unrar vt archive.rarThis command outputs a dedicated block for every file in the archive, explicitly showing the compression ratio percentage alongside the compression method, operating system host, and dictionary size.