Extract text from legacy compressed archives (ARJ)
To convert ARJ archives to another format, you need WinRAR or other Compressed software.
To convert other file formats to the "Compressed Archive File" file type, you need software like WinRAR or a similar tool.
.ARJ files are legacy compressed archives created to bundle and shrink multiple files into a single package. During the 1990s, they were heavily used on bulletin board systems (BBS) because they excelled at creating multi-volume archives that could be split across multiple floppy disks.
Originally developed by Robert K. Jung, these archives were managed using the MS-DOS command-line utility ARJ. Today, you can open them using popular archiving tools like WinRAR or 7-Zip.
The main problem with the .ARJ format today is that it is entirely obsolete. Modern operating systems, including Windows 11 and macOS, do not offer native support for it. If you send an .ARJ file to a client or colleague, they will face a frustrating roadblock because they will need to hunt down and install third-party software just to extract the contents. Furthermore, its legacy compression algorithms are slow and inefficient compared to modern standards.
To ensure your files are actually usable, you must extract and convert them. For universal sharing and web distribution, convert the archive to ZIP, which opens natively on all modern devices. For maximum storage efficiency when archiving, convert to 7Z.
Convert.Guru analyzes your ARJ file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted A01, RAR, ZIPX, PDF, ZIP, EXE, ACSM, CRDOWNLOAD, GED, BIN, TXT, BTW and RPMSG files.
If you want to convert ARJ file to MP4, ZIP, RAR, 7Z, TAR, GZ, BZ2, XZ, LZMA, CAB, ACE or LHA, you can use WinRAR or similar software from the "Legacy Archive Compression" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert XXE, 7Z, Z, PAK, LHA, DEB, UUE, TAR, LZH, ZIP, PKG or RAR files to ARJ, try WinRAR or another comparable tool in the "Legacy Archive Compression" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our ARJ converter.