Unrar List Files with Full Path

This guide explains how to view the contents of a RAR archive with complete directory paths using the command line. While the standard list command often truncates paths or displays only filenames, the unrar utility provides specific verbose commands to display entire directory structures or output plain, line-by-line file paths suitable for shell scripting.

To output a clean list of files containing their complete paths—one per line without headers, footers, or file metadata—use the verbose bare command:

unrar vb archive.rar
  • v: Tells unrar to use verbose mode, which prints full paths instead of truncating them.
  • b: Tells unrar to use "bare" output, removing table borders, timestamps, and file sizes to leave only the path strings.

This format is ideal if you are piping the output into tools like grep, xargs, or standard shell loops:

unrar vb archive.rar | grep "\.txt$"

Detailed List with Full Paths: unrar v

If you want human-readable file details (such as file size, compression ratio, permissions, and timestamps) along with the full path, use the standard verbose command:

unrar v archive.rar

Unlike unrar l (which truncates paths to fit standard column widths), unrar v devotes an entire line to each file's complete path, followed by its attributes on the subsequent line.

Handling Password-Protected Archives

If the archive is encrypted, append the -p switch to supply the password so the command can read the central directory:

unrar vb -pYourPassword archive.rar

If you do not specify the password inline, add just -p to be prompted securely:

unrar vb -p archive.rar