WinRAR error: Unexpected End of Archive

It is frustrating when you try to open an archive containing very important files and you get an Unexpected End of Archive error at the end of the unpacking process. What should you do in that case?

WinRAR generates this error if one or more files in the archive are corrupted and cannot be extracted. Some of the files may be extracted, but as soon as this error occurs during the extraction process, you will have to say goodbye to the remaining files, no matter how sad that may sound.

Alternatively, you can try to download the corrupted archive again (if you have previously downloaded it from the Internet) and try to open it. Sometimes a problem occurs during downloading, and the re-downloading solves the problem.

In some very rare cases, disabling your antivirus for the duration of unpacking may help. But then your computer will no longer be protected in case the archive contains viruses. If you trust it, you can try to disable the antivirus and try to unpack the archive again.