| Command | Shortcut | Function |
| Open archive | Ctrl+O | Open the specified archive. You may also read about other methods to open an archive. |
| Save archive copy as... | Save a copy of archive opened in WinRAR shell to another folder. | |
| Change drive | Ctrl+D | Change the current drive |
| Set default password | Ctrl+P | Set the default password. The password must be entered twice to ensure correctness. This password will be used in all archiving and extracting operations. |
| Copy files to clipboard | Ctrl+C | Copy selected archived or usual files to the clipboard. For example, you may select some files in archive, press Ctrl+C, open a folder in Explorer and press Ctrl+V to unpack selected files to that folder. You may press Ctrl+V in a text editor to paste only file names instead of file contents. |
| Paste files from clipboard | Ctrl+V | Pasting files to WinRAR initiates the archiving operation, so you may select files in Explorer and paste them to WinRAR to compress them. |
| Copy full names to clipboard | Copy only full names of selected files or folders to clipboard, not file contents. | |
| Select all | Ctrl+A | Select all files and folders |
| Select group | Gray + | Select all files and folders corresponding to an entered mask |
| Deselect group | Gray - | Deselect all files and folders corresponding to an entered mask |
| Invert selection | Gray * | Invert the selection of all files and folders |
| Exit | Alt+F4, Ctrl+W | Exit from WinRAR |
Depending on "Keep archives history" option in General settings dialog, a few names of recently opened archives can be present below "Exit" command. You may use them to quickly open these archives in WinRAR.