Convert CBR to CBZ

A comic reader, tablet app, or archive system may accept CBZ but not CBR, so the pages must be repackaged in a ZIP-based comic archive. The conversion changes the container without recompressing the existing page images.

What the CBR format is

CBR means Comic Book RAR: a RAR archive containing sequential comic pages, usually JPEG, PNG, or WEBP files, with a .cbr extension. Comic-book applications and digital comic collections use it to store scanned or rendered pages; the format is a naming convention rather than a separate image format.

RAR-compatible software such as WinRAR or 7-Zip can extract CBR files. Reader support varies by operating system, device, and application, especially for newer RAR variants or encrypted archives.

What the CBZ format is

CBZ means Comic Book ZIP: a ZIP archive containing comic pages, normally with a .cbz extension. ZIP support is built into most desktop operating systems, and CBZ is supported by many desktop readers, mobile apps, e-readers, and library managers.

CBZ is generally easier to inspect, create, and preserve because it uses the widely documented ZIP container. It can also contain folders and auxiliary files, although some readers expect only page images at the archive root.

Convert CBR to CBZ with 7-Zip

1. Install 7-Zip on Windows or Linux, or use a compatible macOS archive utility such as Keka. Create a temporary working folder.
2. Extract the CBR into that folder with 7-Zip → Extract to “filename\” or the equivalent command in your archive utility.
3. Inspect the extracted files. Keep the page images and any metadata required by the destination reader; remove unrelated files only if you know they are unnecessary.
4. Select the extracted contents, not the containing folder, and choose 7-Zip → Add to archive.
5. Set Archive format to zip, name the output with a .cbz extension, and create the archive.
6. Open the CBZ in the target application and check the first, middle, and final pages.

With the 7-Zip command-line program, create the ZIP from inside the extracted directory so the pages are stored at the archive root:

7z x "comic.cbr" -o"comic_extracted"
cd comic_extracted
7z a -tzip "../comic.cbz" *

Use ..\comic.cbz instead of ../comic.cbz in Windows Command Prompt. On macOS, the executable may be named 7zz rather than 7z. The wildcard command may omit hidden files; comic page files normally are not hidden.

Convert CBR to CBZ with WinRAR

1. Open the CBR in WinRAR and extract its contents to a temporary folder.
2. Select the extracted page files, choose Add to archive, and set the archive format to ZIP.
3. Save the result with a .cbz extension and test it in the intended reader.

WinRAR can extract the RAR-based source and create the ZIP-based destination, but the output format must be ZIP; choosing RAR and merely changing the extension does not produce a CBZ.

Use an online converter

Services such as CloudConvert list CBR and CBZ conversions. Upload the file, select CBZ as the output, start the conversion, download the result, and test the downloaded archive before deleting the source.

Online conversion requires uploading the complete comic to a third party and may impose file-size or processing limits. Use it only for files you are permitted to upload and avoid private or sensitive collections unless the service's retention and privacy terms are acceptable. Desktop conversion keeps the contents local.

Quality and compatibility limits

Extracting the RAR archive and creating a ZIP archive normally preserves each JPEG, PNG, or WEBP file byte-for-byte; it does not reduce image resolution or introduce another generation of JPEG compression. The final archive size can still change because ZIP uses different compression and metadata.

Renaming comic.cbr to comic.cbz changes only the filename. The file remains a RAR archive and will fail in readers that expect ZIP.

ZIP does not define comic-page reading order. Most readers sort filenames, so names such as 001.jpg, 002.jpg, and 010.jpg are safer than 1.jpg, 2.jpg, and 10.jpg. Preserve the original names when their sorting is already correct. Password-protected CBR files require the password for extraction, and damaged RAR archives may produce missing or corrupt pages.