Show Total Size of Extracted Files in Unrar

While the unrar utility does not have a single native switch to print a cumulative extracted byte count at the end of the extraction command, you can easily achieve this output using built-in listing commands or simple shell commands. This guide explains how to view the total uncompressed size before extraction, inspect the final footprint immediately after extracting, and automate the entire process with a custom command.

Method 1: Check the Total Size Before Extracting

The fastest way to see the total size of all files contained in an archive is to list its contents using the l (list) or v (verbose) command.

Run the following command:

unrar l archive.rar

At the bottom of the generated table, unrar prints a summary row displaying:

• Total number of files
• Total uncompressed size
• Total compressed size
• Compression ratio

If you want to view only the summary line with the total size, pipe the output through tail:

unrar l archive.rar | tail -n 2

Method 2: Display the Size Automatically After Extraction

To extract the files and immediately view the total disk space consumed by the extracted content, chain unrar with the du (disk usage) command using the && operator.

Run the extraction to a specific directory:

unrar x archive.rar output_dir/ && du -sh output_dir/

• x: Extracts files with their full directory path.
• output_dir/: The target extraction folder.
• &&: Ensures the next command runs only if the extraction succeeds.
• du -sh: Displays the summary total (-s) in human-readable format (-h).

To view the raw apparent size in bytes rather than block allocation on disk, use the --apparent-size flag with du:

unrar x archive.rar output_dir/ && du -sh --apparent-size output_dir/

Method 3: Create a Reusable Shell Function

To make unrar display the total extracted size automatically every time without manually retyping multiple commands, add a wrapper function to your ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc file:

unrar_size() {
    local archive="$1"
    local dest="${2:-.}"
    
    unrar x "$archive" "$dest" && {
        echo -e "\n--- Extraction Complete ---"
        echo -n "Total Extracted Size: "
        du -sh "$dest" | cut -f1
    }
}

Apply the changes:

source ~/.bashrc

Now you can extract any archive and see the total size printed automatically at the end of the process:

unrar_size archive.rar target_folder