The Quartus II archive feature allows you to store a project and its related files in a single, compressed Quartus II Archive File (.qar) and then restore the project later. The Quartus II Archive File is a small file size that allows you to transfer the stored project, such as to another designer, or to make a copy of the project. When you copy a project with the Copy Project command, you increase the file size because you then make a copy of both the project and a separate copy of any revisions to the original project.  When you archive a project, the compilation results for that project remain intact.

A Quartus II Archive File contains files related to a project, including current revision, project database, DSP Builder, and IP files generated during compilation and simulation, version-compatible database files, and user library files. When creating a new Quartus II Archive File, the Quartus II software automatically adds files needed for compiling the project, such as design files and source files. You can choose file sets and file subsets to add to the archive, and you can add or remove individual files that you want to include in the Quartus II Archive File. Each Quartus II Archive File has an associated Quartus II Archive Log File (.qarlog) that contains information about the Quartus II Archive File, such as a list of the Quartus II Archive File's contents, user comments, and any errors encountered during archiving. The Quartus II software also generates Text-Format Report Files (.rpt), including a <revision>.archive.rpt file when you archive a project and a <revision>.restore.rpt file when you restore a project.

When you restore a project from a Quartus II Archive File, you can view the Quartus II Archive Log File and select the destination folder for the Quartus II Archive File's contents. You can restore the contents of a Quartus II Archive File as many times as you want.