Recover legacy archives Transform legacy read supported format archives (e.g. old backup or save files in ACE file format, ARJ, LHA), which may be, or become, obsolete - surpassed in terms of compression, performances, encryption features, or be troublesome to support in future systems - making desiderable to switch to a more modern archive type
	Change to a long term supported archive type Provide recipients of data archived in a suitable, widely supported standard - usually ZIP format, for compatibility with most systems and most archive managers, or TAR format, widely employed on Unix and Unix-like environments - changing uncommon format existing archives
	Merge save files Optimizing data backup, merging multiple existing save files (even from different formats at once) in a single backup archive - removing "Add each object to a separate archive" flag to consolidate data in a single output - to change all the input to the new format
	Improve compression ratio Re-compress old archives with better compression ratio, as more computing power and better algorithms becomes available; i.e. 7z / p7zip optimized Deflate algorithm compresses 2-10% smaller ZIP archives preserving full compatibility with standard specifications, and 7Z format usually attains 30-70% better compression than classic ZIP format
	Switch to open sorce formats Replace non-free archive types (ACE, RAR format, ZIPX format) with free ones (7Z, ZIP) which can be supported by Free Software without being encumbered by patents' issues, in order to guarantee the format to stay supported even after the original author ceases development.

How to convert existing archives, i.e. RAR to ZIP format

PeaZip file converter function allows to convert existing archives belonging to any of the 200+ formats supported for extraction (CAB, ISO, RAR, ZIPX...), into any archive format supported for writing (7Z, RAR, WIM, TAR, ZIP and more popular file formats), on Microsoft Windows and Linux systems.
In example, RAR archives can be converted to ZIP format (that is ubiquitously supported) or to 7Z format (which offers better compression), or to TAR format (widely supported on Unix-like systems). Format change function also comes handy when the user, for an afterthought, wants e.g. to recompress the archive using higher compression settings, or to apply encryption, etc.
It is possible to convert existing archives to RAR format with PeaZip if WinRar is installed in the system, which enables read/write support for RAR format in PeaZip - it is not possible to autonomously add rar compression support due rar licensing restrictions.

Convert multiple archives at once

For batch conversion operations, the software can work on multiple archives at the same time (even of different formats), either converting each input archive in a separate file in the chosen target format, or consolidating the multiple input archives in a new single archive of the desired format.
Non-archive files can be added as well to the batch input list, and will be compressed (or consolidated) in the chosen new archive format.
In any case when using Conversion function, batch or on single files, input archives are firstly extracted and then recompressed in the new format, in order to get optimal compression results.

To convert existing archives, click on "Convert" button in applications tool bar, or check the "Convert existing archives" option in archive creation dialog; add files to conversion procedure as for normal archive creation, as explained in the FAQ and in program's documentation (F1).

Flag "Add each object to a separate archive" if you want to create a separate output archive file for each input object, ie.e. to perform a mass file conversion of input archives, or uncheck the option if you prefer to merge all the input data in a single archive, i.e. to consolidate a set of backup.

If verbose mode is selected, after the extraction stage file conversion procedure asks for confirmation to proceed with compression, this allows to abort the process in case of problems (disk full, unknown password, corrupted archives etc) or to further modify the uncompressed data before the final re-compression stage.

After the compression stage, file conversion procedure asks for confirmation before deleting temporary files and folders created for conversion, however original archives are not deleted and not modified in any stage of the conversion unless "Delete files after archiving" option is flagged - user confirmation is required in any case, in order to let the user always aware and in full control of deletion of original data.

How to convert encrypted archives

If input file is encrypted, user needs to provide correct password to perform archive conversion, otherwise archive data will not be readable and extraction stage will not complete. Logically, it is not possible to correctly modify (and switch format for) a file that cannot be correctly read. Password can be provided clicking on padlcok icon in PeaZip.

Read more: list of file archiving formats on Wikipedia, how to convert zip files to other archive formats, and comparison of archive format features, advantages and disadvantages.

Synopsis: PeaZip free RAR 7Z ACE ISO TAR ZIP file converter software. How to convert rar to zip files. Change archive format, purposes and methods. How to convert archive type, e.g. zip to 7z. Consolidate multiple archives of mixed types a single archive of chosen format. Batch conversion of multiple archive files at once from one or multiple extension to another type of archive of choice.

Topics: convert existing archive to different format

PeaZip > FAQ > Convert RAR ISO TAR ZIP files, free file conversion utility