There is nothing more annoying than downloading a file from the Internet and, after waiting patiently for the download time, to find that the compressed file has a password . Many times on the website from which we have downloaded it they tell us what it is, or we can ask the owner of the file or who has shared it with us. However, sometimes, we can find a password protected ZIP or RAR file, from which we cannot get the password. And this is where these programs come into play.
First of all we must indicate that there is no way to remove the password of a compressed file as well. What the password usually does is usually encrypt the files inside the package. So there is no magic button that allows us to remove the password and access the files just like that.
What we can do is use the programs that we are going to see below to try to break, crack or guess the password . To do this, these programs usually use brute force techniques, or a dictionary, to find it. Of course, the more complex and long the password, the longer it will take to break. It all depends on the complexity of it, and the hardware of our PC.
Types of attack to break passwords
There are three different types of attacks to break, and find out, the passwords of compressed files:
- Brute Force : This type of attack is based on trying all possible combinations of numbers, letters and characters until you find the true password. It is the least effective in terms of performance, and if the password is long it can take a long time.
- Dictionary Attack : allows us to load a dictionary of keys, or a list, to be able to test with the most used passwords until we find the true one.
- Brute Force Attack with Mask : It is more accurate than the normal brute force attack as it allows us to specify ranges and patterns to test much more precise techniques.
Break ZIP file passwords
ZIP files are files that are compressed using the algorithms of WinZIP, the popular data compression software. If we have a password protected WinZIP file, these programs will help us find out what its password is.
Accent ZIP Password Recovery
This is one of the best known programs to break the passwords of any WinZIP file. This program offers a good speed when it comes to breaking password security, as well as being optimized especially for Intel and AMD processors. It supports brute force, mask and even dictionary attack techniques. It has a very simple interface to use, which also guides us step by step throughout the process.
However, this program is not free, and the demo offered by its developers is extremely limited.
We can download Accent ZIP Password Recovery from here .
Ultimate ZIP Cracker
This program, also known as UZC, stands out for not only being compatible with files in ZIP format, but also for being able to open and crack Word and Excel files. This program uses many different techniques to try to find out what is the password of the compressed files, or documents, that we load, which increases the probability of success when using the program.
As a drawback we must highlight that the free version is excessively limited, which can be a problem for some users.
We can download Ultimate ZIP Cracker from this link .
KRyLack ZIP Password Recovery
This software is mainly focused on carrying out brute force attacks in order to find out the passwords of the compressed files in ZIP format. This software has a very clean and simple interface from which we will be able to configure all the aspects of the password that we want to break. We can customize the characters we want to test, and even, if we pay, enable the recovery functions by dictionary or by mask.
Once again, the main drawback of this program is that it is a paid software, and the free version is very limited, especially in terms of attack types.
We can download KRyLack ZIP Password Recovery from here .
Zip Password Recovery Tool
Another program that will allow us to recover the password of any compressed file that we have forgotten. This program is compatible with all ZIP standards, so it will allow us to work with any compressed file. It allows to carry out dictionary-based and brute-force attacks in order to find the password without problems.
This is a paid program, so the free version is limited in terms of the number of characters (4 or less), in addition to blocking the possibility of using the dictionary.
We can download Zip Password Recovery Tool from its main website .
ZIP Password Cracker Pro
This software is characterized by being totally free, that is, we can use it for free without limitations. The program will allow us to carry out brute force attacks by choosing the characters we want to use, in addition to helping us to find out passwords if we know a part of them, and even from lists, or key dictionaries. Keep track of the keys tested so that if something goes wrong (power outage, for example), we can continue where we left off.
We can download ZIP Password Cracker Pro for free from this link .
Programs to crack RAR passwords
If, on the contrary, what we have are files in RAR format (compressed with WinRAR) encrypted by password, the following programs will allow us to find out what their key is so that we can access their content without headaches.
Free Rar Password Recovery
This is one of the most advanced software to decrypt lost or forgotten passwords of compressed files in RAR format. It has a very simple and intuitive interface that makes this software easy to use for any user. Of course, despite its name, this program is not free. And besides, your license is not exactly cheap. An attempt at deception a little ugly but that does not make it a bad alternative.
We can download Free RAR Password Recovery from this link .
RAR Password Recovery Professional
Without a doubt, one of the best qualities of this software is its speed. This program can carry out brute force, masked and even dictionary attacks. In addition, it has support for CPUs with multiple cores, and even with GPUs, so that it increases the speed of decryption of keys. It has a very careful and easy to understand design, in addition to a progress bar that indicates the progress of the recovery.
By contrast, the free version is limited to just 3 characters, and the paid version costs $ 19.95.
We can download RAR Password Recovery Professional from its website .
Daossoft RAR Password Rescuer
Another alternative to try to find out the password of any archive compressed in RAR format. This program has an elegant interface, very clear, ordered and easy to use, which will allow us to recover the password of any type of file compressed with WinRAR. This software can make use of literal brute force, brute force with character masks and, of course, based on defined dictionaries that we can load.
Unfortunately, it is not one of the fastest solutions, and it usually takes a long time to figure out the key. Especially if it is long and complex.
We can download Daossoft RAR Password Rescuer from here .
KRyLack Archive Password Recovery
This program allows us to recover forgotten passwords from both compressed ZIP files and RAR files. KRyLack Archive Password Recovery has a large number of configuration options, which makes it very easy to choose both the characters we want to test and the length of the password. We can also set a fixed mask on the keys and many more parameters to optimize the search for the key as much as possible.
The search for passwords is done through brute force, or through a dictionary of passwords that we can load to focus on searching for passwords in said dictionary.
We can download KRyLack Archive Password Recovery from here .
RAR Password Unlocker
This program, also known as WinRAR Password Cracker, is a free tool that allows us to search for the password of those compressed files that we have forgotten or that, when we downloaded them, we would find this unpleasant surprise. This program uses two different techniques to guess the passwords of the protected RAR files: brute force and dictionary.
We can download RAR Password Unlocker from this link .
RAR Password Recovery Magic
This program is one of the most complete professional solutions that we can find for this purpose. It has a very simple interface to which we can add any encrypted RAR file, protected by password, to try to find out what its password is. This program also uses brute force, and dictionary analysis, to find the correct password.
It is a fairly fast solution, although the free version has important limitations, and the complete one costs $ 30.
We can find RAR Password Recovery Magic on its main website .
Professional programs to crack passwords
In addition to the previous programs, there are also a series of much more professional and advanced alternatives that will allow us to break the passwords of any software.
Hashcat
This program is especially focused on allowing users to decrypt passwords using the main hashing algorithms used to save passwords within files. Trying to break passwords from your hash, rather than brute force, is a much faster alternative than any other. It is completely free and open source, in addition to being available for both Windows, Linux and macOS.
We can download Hashcat from its website .
John the Ripper
This is another well-known program that we can use to break passwords. It is completely free and open source, and is available for all major operating systems. It was originally created as a program to crack weak Unix passwords, but today it has become an all-in-one with which we can break practically any computer password. In addition, it does it at a much higher speed than other programs.
We can download John the Ripper from here .