Error 0x8096002A: How to Fix it on Windows 11

Microsoft recently introduced support for .tar, .tar.gz, .tar.bz2, .tbz2, .tzst, .tar.xz, .tgz, tar.zst, .txz, .7z, and .rar files in Windows 11, but many came across Error 0x8096002A when trying to extract precisely .rar using File Explorer.

The message reads An unexpected error is preventing the archive from being extracted. Error 0x8096002A: No error description available. The problem is not widespread, and the number of users affected is still limited, as per forum reports. But there’s more to know!

Error 0x8096002A indicates that Windows cannot extract the contents of a password-protected .rar (Roshal ARchive) file, though there is no issue decompressing a normal .rar file.

How do I fix error 0x8096002a in Windows 11?

1. Use a third-party tool to extract the file

The best option is to use a third-party tool to extract a .rar file in Windows. It’s an easy process and shouldn’t take more than a minute.

Besides, if possible, use the same tool that was initially employed to compress the archive file to .rar format. Using another tool will also help when a corrupt header is found in the RAR file.

WinZip is one of the most known and used tools to handle archive files, including .rar. Being one of the tools that we often use, we can tell you it is plenty powerful and will help you extract .rar, .zip, and many other archive formats.

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2. Repair the corrupt system files

1. Press Windows + S to open Search, type Command Prompt in the text field, right-click on the relevant result, and select Run as administrator. 
2. Click Yes in the UAC prompt.
3. Now, paste the following commands individually and hit Enter after each: DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
4. Execute this command to run the SFC scan: sfc /scannow

The error code 0x8096002A can always arise due to corrupt system files, and you can rely on the DISM commands and SFC scan to replace the problematic files with the cached copies.

3. Update Windows 

1. Press Windows + I to open the Settings app, go to Windows Update from the navigation pane, and click on Check for updates.
2. If an update is available, download it.
3. Once done, restart the computer for the changes to apply and verify whether the 0x8096002A Windows error goes away.

Read more about this topic

• Microsoft’s latest patent describes a technology capable of hiding parts of the Windows desktop
• Windows 11’s Caps Lock notification drives people mad, but there’s a way to turn it off
• Windows 11 will display the date of the latest backup, making it easier to keep track of files

4. Switch to the Insider version of Windows

If nothing else works, we recommend you enroll in the Windows Insider Program. This allows you to access updates and releases before others.

Though the error will remain for password-protected compressed files for now, if and when the capability is introduced, those on insider builds will be the first to receive it. And if it doesn’t work out, you can always leave the Insider program.

While there are a few workarounds, no sure shot fixes currently exist for Error: 0x8096002A. But if you get a WinRAR cannot execute file error, that should be fixed in no time!

Besides, while unzipping files, you may see the WinRAR No archives found error message, and repairing the file does the trick! Even more, you can take a closer look at how to fix 895 System32.exe Failure on Windows 11 as some solutions work here as well.

If you have any questions or want to share more solutions with us, comment below. We will also update the guide with more fixes as they come up.