How To Fix The Archive Is Either In Unknown Format or Damaged Error [Solution]

How To Fix The Archive Is Either In Unknown Format or Damaged Error [Solution]

Have you tried to download a zipped or a RAR file just to encounter the error message The archive is either in unknown format or damaged when trying to open it?

Zip and RAR archives are used for transferring or downloading files with large sizes so as to reduce the amount of space and time taken by them. There have been reports by users where they are encountering the error message “The archive is either in unknown format or Damaged” when they try to open a ZIP or RAR archived file downloaded over the internet.

Issues addressed in this tutorial:
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If you downloaded a zipped or a RAR file and when you try to open it, you encounter the error message ‘The archive is either in unknown format or damaged‘, then this post is intended to help you. In this tutorial, we will identify the cause, as well as offer the appropriate solutions you can try to help you remediate this issue.

This tutorial will apply for computers, laptops, desktops, and tablets running the Windows 10 and Windows 11 operating systems (Home, Professional, Enterprise, Education) from all supported hardware manufactures, like Dell, HP, Acer, Asus, Toshiba, Lenovo, Alienware, Razer, MSI, Huawei , Microsoft Surface, and Samsung.

[lyss]

Don’t know if I’ll get a quick response but when I try this it states “Cannot open file as archive”😭

[jrhofoz]

for the 7 zip is asks for a password when i click extract here, how do i fix that?