RAR file shows a CRC error — can the files be recovered?
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What a CRC error actually means
Every file inside a RAR archive is stored with a checksum (CRC). When you extract, the checksum of the decompressed data is compared with the stored one — if they differ, the archive was modified after creation: disk corruption, a faulty download, an interrupted upload, or a bad sector. The error is real: some bytes in the archive are not what they were.
How much can be recovered
Usually more than the error suggests. A CRC failure in one file does not affect the others: in a non-solid archive, every other file can typically be extracted intact. Even the damaged file is often partially readable. Tools that stop at the first error throw away everything; Fileglass extracts file by file and gives you every file that still passes its own check — in our test corpus, a typical archive damaged mid-way still yields most of its contents.
The honest limits: in a solid archive (common for heavily compressed downloads), files after the damaged point may be unrecoverable, because solid compression makes each file depend on the previous ones. And if the archive includes a recovery record, WinRAR on desktop can sometimes repair it fully — worth trying for irreplaceable data.
Try it with your file
Drop your RAR below. It is processed entirely in your browser — nothing is uploaded anywhere — and you'll see exactly which files are intact.
More guides: CRC error · Unexpected end of archive · Cannot open as archive