What Is an ARJ File?

How to Open, Edit, & Convert ARJ Files

By
Tim Fisher
Photo of Tim Fisher, Lifewire GM and Writer
Tim Fisher
Senior Vice President & Group General Manager, Tech & Sustainability
  • Emporia State University
Tim Fisher has more than 30 years' of professional technology experience. He's been writing about tech for more than two decades and serves as the VP and General Manager of Lifewire.
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Updated on January 7, 2022

What to Know

  • An ARJ file is an ARJ Compressed file.
  • Open one on Windows with PeaZip, or use The Unarchiver on macOS.
  • Convert to ZIP or TAR with Convertio, or extract the files to convert what's inside.

This article describes what the ARJ Compressed file format is, including how to open an ARJ file and how to convert one to a different archive format.

Person opening arj files on a laptop
Lifewire / Julie Bang 

What Is an ARJ File?

A file with the ARJ file extension is an ARJ Compressed file. Like most archive file types, they're used to store and compress multiple files and folders into one easily manageable file.

How to Open an ARJ File

ARJ files can be opened with any popular compression/decompression program. We recommend 7-Zip or PeaZip, but there are several free zip/unzip tools to choose from, including the official ARJ program.

ARJ files in Windows 10 that open with PeaZip
ARJ files that open with PeaZip.

If you're on a Mac, try The Unarchiver or Incredible Bee's Archiver.

Regardless of the one you choose, any of these types of programs will decompress (extract) the contents of an ARJ file, and some may also have the ability to create one.

The RAR app from RARLAB is an option for opening ARJ files on an Android device.

You could also use Notepad or another text editor to open it. Many files are text-only files, meaning no matter the file extension, a text editor may be able to properly display the file's contents. This isn't true for archives like this one, but your ARJ file might actually be in a totally different, obscure format that's really just a text document.

How to Convert an ARJ File

If you're wanting to convert an ARJ file to another archive format, the best way to do that would be to go ahead and extract all the contents held in the file and then compress them to a new format using a file compressor from the list mentioned above.

In other words, instead of looking for an ARJ to ZIP or RAR converter (or whatever format you want it to end up in), it'd be easier and probably quicker to open the archive to detach all its data. Then, just re-make the archive but choose the format you want, like ZIP, RAR, 7Z, etc.

There are, however, online ARJ file converters, but since they make you upload the archive online first, they're not very useful if your file is really large. If you have a small one, try Convertio. Upload the file to that website, and you'll be given the option to convert it to a number of formats like 7Z, RAR, TAR, GZ/TGZ, BZ2, or ZIP.

Convertio ARJ converter

Still Can't Open It?

Files that don't open with the ARJ openers above are most likely not in this format. The reason you're mistaking your file for an ARJ archive might be if the file extension looks similar but is really just a letter or two off.

For example, ARF and ARD files share the same first two extension letters, but none of these formats are related and, therefore, won't open with the same programs. 

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