DAR File

What are DAR files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening a DAR file or are you simply curious about its contents? We're here to explain the properties of these files and provide you with software that can open or handle your DAR files.

What is a DAR file?

A .DAR file is a Dar Archive file.

Dar Archive files are backup archives created by the DiskARchive program, a command-line tool intended for making full, differential, incremental, and other kinds of backups. These archives store both file data and extensive metadata including permissions, access control lists, extended attributes, and sparse file information so that files saved from a live filesystem can be restored faithfully. Slices may be used when the archive exceeds a certain size, so backups can span removable media or cloud storage.

The archive is built by the dar/libdar program, which writes its contents sequentially in "slices" (separate files when splitting is enabled). At the end of the archive there is a catalog (or table of contents) which dar uses for fast file lookup, listing, comparison, restoration and other operations. Differential and incremental backups are supported, and dar features options for compression (gzip, bzip2, zlib), encryption, disk spanning, support for hard links and file forks, and tools for testing archive integrity or repairing broken archives.

How to open DAR files

Important: Different programs may use files with the DAR file extension for different purposes, so unless you are sure which format your DAR file is, you may need to try a few different programs.

While we have not verified the apps ourselves yet, our users have suggested six different DAR openers which you will find listed below.

Last updated: October 2, 2026

Various apps that use files with this extension

These apps are known to open certain types of DAR files. Remember, different programs may use DAR files for different purposes, so you may need to try out a few of them to be able to open your specific file.

Help us help others

File.org helps thousands of users every day, and we would love to hear from you if you have additional information about DAR file formats, example files, or compatible programs. Please use the links below or email us at submit@file.org to discuss further.