An ARH file is a flexible extension used by unrelated tools, with one common usage being Siemens ProTool, where ARH files store packaged HMI project data for transfer or backup—expected in environments involving Siemens, WinCC, STEP7, or S7—while another usage is with ArheoStratigraf in archaeology, where the file holds stratigraphy records and diagram data like a Harris Matrix, typically located in folders referencing trenches, layers, contexts, or stratigraphy.

To identify the ARH type accurately, the fastest trial is opening it with 7-Zip or WinRAR, because some ARH files are essentially archives; if the tool opens it and displays internal folders or files, you can extract them and inspect elements like images, configs, or database items—usually signaling a packaged Siemens/ProTool-style project—while a failure to open means the file might still be valid but proprietary, requiring ProTool or ArheoStratigraf, and you can also try copying and renaming the file to `.zip` or `. If you cherished this write-up and you would like to obtain much more information with regards to ARH file extension reader kindly visit the page. rar` in case it’s a simple archive under another name, with the real "correct" method depending on your needs: extraction works if you only want assets, but full project editing needs the original software.

Because many ARH files act like project packages, they’re sometimes stored as compressed containers similar to ZIP files, which is why trying 7-Zip or WinRAR is useful even before you know the source program; if 7-Zip opens it, you’ll usually see folders and files—configs, databases, images, logs—that reveal the file’s purpose and let you extract assets without the original software, while a failure to open simply suggests a proprietary format, and a good trick is renaming a copy to `.zip` or `.rar` to test whether it extracts, making this quick archive test an easy way to identify the ARH type and possibly recover what you need right away.

An ARH file doesn’t correspond to one unified format because ".ARH" isn’t controlled by a global standard and is reused across unrelated software, meaning two files with the same extension may contain totally different structures; context is the key—Siemens automation projects typically use ARH as a compressed HMI package, whereas archaeological setups use it as an ArheoStratigraf project—and proper identification comes from examining its origin, surrounding files, and whether it behaves like an extractable archive.

In real use, ".ARH" identifies the file loosely rather than structurally, allowing different software to assign it to unrelated data; thus an automation-sourced ARH might be a Siemens/ProTool HMI package containing screens, configurations, alarms, and tag databases, while an archaeology-sourced ARH could be an ArheoStratigraf project with stratigraphy links and diagram information, and similar filenames may mask these differences, so identifying it requires checking context and testing with tools like 7-Zip to distinguish between an archive and a proprietary project.

You can determine an ARH file’s nature by checking the *context around it*—folder names, neighboring files, and workflow—since ".ARH" can mean different things; when it sits in automation-related folders with Siemens, ProTool, WinCC, STEP7/S7, PLC, or alarm/tag references, it’s likely a Siemens ProTool compressed project, but when stored in archaeology folders referencing trench, stratigraphy, layers, or context numbers and surrounded by drawings, photos, or excavation spreadsheets, it’s probably ArheoStratigraf, and if still unclear, trying 7-Zip helps: archive-like behavior suggests a packaged project, and failure to open implies proprietary software is needed.