An ARH file isn’t tied to one universal purpose, so the best way to identify it is by checking context; many ARH files come from Siemens ProTool—older industrial HMI software—where they act as compressed project packages for storing or backing up HMI work, making this likely if the file came from factory equipment, PLC/HMI technicians, or folders mentioning Siemens, ProTool, WinCC, STEP7, S7, or HMI, while in other cases ARH refers to an ArheoStratigraf project used in archaeology for documenting stratigraphy and building diagrams like a Harris Matrix, which fits if the file came from excavation records or folders labeled contexts, trench, stratigraphy, matrix, or layers.

To figure out the ARH type without guessing, the quickest verification is using 7-Zip or WinRAR, since some ARH files are container archives; if the tool opens it and reveals internal structure, you can extract and check for project folders, configs, images, or databases—often tied to Siemens/ProTool—while an inability to open it doesn’t imply corruption but rather that it’s a proprietary project format requiring the original application, and an additional trick is renaming a copied version to `.zip` or `.rar` to test whether it extracts, with the correct opening method depending on your purpose: extraction may be enough for asset recovery, but full project access needs the creating software.

Because many ARH files are structured as multi-file project bundles, they’re often saved in compressed form, so checking them with 7-Zip or WinRAR is worthwhile even without knowing the program; if the archive opens, you’ll see internal folders containing configs, images, logs, or databases that reveal what created it, and you can extract assets immediately, while a failure to open usually means it’s a proprietary format, with a useful trick being to copy and rename the extension to `.zip` or `. Here's more info in regards to advanced ARH file handler have a look at our site. rar` to see if it extracts, making this a quick, low-effort way to identify the ARH and possibly retrieve needed content.

An ARH file cannot be defined purely by its extension because many developers reuse ".ARH" for unrelated purposes, so the extension alone tells you little; instead, the source matters—industrial automation work (Siemens/HMI/PLC) points toward a packaged project, while archaeological stratigraphy work points toward an ArheoStratigraf file—and checking how it behaves in tools like 7-Zip helps determine whether it’s an archive or a proprietary project.

In effect, ".ARH" acts as a superficial indicator, because the extension can belong to unrelated programs; one ARH might be a Siemens/ProTool HMI project holding screens, tags, configurations, and alarms, while another from archaeology might be ArheoStratigraf data describing stratigraphy relationships and diagrams, so identical-looking filenames can still differ entirely, and the most reliable identification comes from tracing its source and using tools like 7-Zip to see whether it behaves like an archive or needs its original software.

You can usually tell what an ARH file represents by observing the *environment it lives in*—the folder structure, companion files, and domain—because the extension doesn’t dictate the format; ARH files appearing in automation engineering folders with Siemens, ProTool, WinCC, STEP7/S7, PLC, panels, tags, or alarms are commonly Siemens ProTool project packages, while ARH files inside archaeology folders marked trench, stratigraphy, matrix, layers, or excavation data typically correspond to ArheoStratigraf projects, and in ambiguous cases, a 7-Zip "Open archive" test reveals whether it’s a browsable container or a proprietary file requiring the original tool.