.cbr files
.cbr file
Comic Book Archive (RAR)
The same idea as CBZ but built on RAR, so it needs a RAR-capable reader.
What opens a .cbr file
- Windows
- CDisplayEx, YACReader, Calibre, WinRAR (to extract the pages)
- macOS
- YACReader, Simple Comic, The Unarchiver (to extract)
- Linux
- YACReader, MComix, Calibre
What a .cbr file is
CBR is a RAR archive of comic page images with a renamed extension. Because RAR is proprietary, some readers that handle CBZ fine will refuse a CBR, and Windows 11's built-in archive support covers reading RAR but not creating it. YACReader, CDisplayEx and Calibre all cope; converting to CBZ removes the problem permanently.
Converting it
A .cbr file is commonly converted to .cbz, .pdf, .zip or .epub. It is a binary format, so a text editor will show unreadable characters rather than its contents.
Details
- Extension
- .cbr
- Full name
- Comic Book Archive (RAR)
- Category
- E-books
- MIME type
- application/vnd.comicbook-rar
- Created by
- Community convention
- Format
- Binary
Common questions
- How do I open a .cbr file?
- On Windows use CDisplayEx; on macOS use YACReader; on Linux use YACReader. The same idea as CBZ but built on RAR, so it needs a RAR-capable reader.
- What is a .cbr file?
- Comic Book Archive (RAR). CBR is a RAR archive of comic page images with a renamed extension. Because RAR is proprietary, some readers that handle CBZ fine will refuse a CBR, and Windows 11's built-in archive support covers reading RAR but not creating it.
- Can I convert a .cbr file?
- Yes. It is usually converted to .cbz, .pdf, .zip or .epub, either by exporting from one of the programs listed above or with a format converter.
Related pages
- .epub — Electronic Publication The open ebook standard — reflowable text that adapts to any screen size.
- .mobi — Mobipocket Ebook Amazon's older Kindle format, retired for new content in 2022.
- .azw3 — Kindle Format 8 The Kindle ebook format with modern layout support — usually DRM-locked.
- .cbz — Comic Book Archive (ZIP) A zip file full of page images, renamed so comic readers pick it up.
- .djvu — DjVu Scanned Document A scanned-document format that compresses text pages far better than PDF.
Sources
- Media Types Registry — IANA
- Official vendor product documentation — At One Place