Download a program to unzip mac files. The best archivers for Mac OS X
So, before you is an archive in RAR format. You’ve never dealt with it before, and you also weren’t able to unzip the files in it with one click. What to do? Now we'll tell you!
What is RAR?
The RAR file format is similar to the more familiar ZIP file. Both of them are “archives”, i.e. contain several other files in compressed form. Thanks to archives, you can, for example, send a message to a friend or colleague via email not thousands of individual files, but just one file with the entire archive.
RAR is an abbreviation for Roshal ARchive, i.e. "Roshal Archive". Its creator is famous Russian programmer Evgeniy Roshal. “People” know Evgeniy Lazarevich mainly for his other popular product - FAR Manager. He created the RAR format to correct the shortcomings of ZIP. As a result, RAR archives “weigh” less, making it possible to divide them into several parts and correct errors that occur.
Even more have now been developed effective solutions like 7-Zip format. But RAR is still very popular, and it will be a long time before it retires. So the ability to manage it will be very useful in the near future.
RAR is a proprietary format, so it's not surprising that macOS doesn't have programs to work with it by default. But there is nothing “like that” here - you can easily solve this problem by installing third party application, For example, free archiver Keka for Mac.
The application does exactly what a program of this kind should do - opens any archive in RAR format. All you need to do is download and install Keka, and then double-click on the RAR archive with the left mouse button (or right-click once and select Keka from the Open menu).
Keka has two disadvantages - firstly, you will not be able to see the contents of the archive before unpacking it, as you are used to doing in Windows. This probably won’t stop 99% of users; everyone else is advised to find another program for themselves. Secondly, Keka cannot create RAR archives; in this regard, the choice is limited to ZIP, 7-Zip, TAR, GZIP and BZIP2.
Archivers are not particularly necessary applications, but every self-respecting user resorts to using them.
The most common purpose of archivers is to record large volumes files into one archive for further storage or forwarding. The Mac system has its own archivers, which differ in minor differences. So, here are the five best archivers for Mac OS X.
A widely popular and best archiver for Mac OS is BetterZip. The main advantage of the utility is the ability to open archives that were created on other similar apps. In addition, the user can choose from a wide range of archiving types that he likes. Inherent is the ability to view the contents of an archived file without opening it, which significantly increases the protection class of the application, thereby protecting the system from hacker attacks. In addition to all these advantages, there is a certain disadvantage that the budget user does not really like. Manufacturers are so confident in the quality of the application that they charge a certain amount of money.
Keka
Although the archiver for Mac OS has an unpaid distribution, it cannot catch up and surpass its colleague BetterZip in terms of quality and performance. Maybe it's because it's free? And the manufacturer does not want to improve the archiver. This is not yet known, but it is worth mentioning that the application is quite functional, fast and has a lot of formats. Of course, the archiving list is not as wide as previous application, but there is also something to demonstrate. The only thing missing is the popular RAR format, which is so common in the archiving world. Another disadvantage is the program icon, which has an “inadequate” appearance.
WinZip for Mac
Archiver for Mac OS, coming from the Windows world. Its peculiarity for this operating system is paid distribution, and the payment is much higher than that of other similar utilities. But paying for the application is worth it: there is a wide variety of archiving formats and high functionality. Everything an experienced user needs.
Zipeg
Zipeg is distributed free of charge, which makes it possible to expand the horizons of its use among users. Actively works when archiving a file, as well as when unpacking it. The advantage is the ability to unpack password-protected files.
The Unarchiver
A simple and quickly effective utility that is aimed only at unpacking zipped files. Great solution for those who are used to receiving applications by mail in archived form. Supports a wide list of formats for unpacking, which is quite enough for users. Freeness and ease of operation are the strength of the utility.
From this it is worth noting that you should not chase the first toll number, if most of the functions are unclaimed. Each user will now be able to choose the desired option for themselves.
Category: Useful tips
Installing WinRAR on Mac OS X is done from the command line.
Download the archive with the program and unpack it. Then launch the terminal and go to this unpacked folder. To do this, type the command:
After it, put a space and drag the unpacked folder with WinRAR into the terminal window. The path to it will be automatically written after “ CD", you'll get something like this:
Press Enter to move to the folder. Then run the installation as super user.
sudo install -c -o %shortname% rar /bin
Instead of %shortname% enter your login, then, after entering the command, click Enter. The system will ask you to enter the administrator password - enter it.
After this it will happen WinRAR installation on Mac OS, after it finishes, you can check its success by typing the command in the terminal rar or unrar.
The creators of WinRAR took care of users of all popular modern platforms by releasing their own version of the archiver for each of them. They didn't spare Mac either.
WinRAR for Mac OS X, like the version for Linux, does not have GUI, the developers allow Mac users to work with the rar and unrar modules only from the command line. This is very strange, since Apple’s operating system, like many other products from this company, is focused primarily on facilitating user interaction with computers, and working with command line requires some special knowledge.
Nevertheless, WinRAR for Mac OS exists exactly in this form; developers constantly release new versions of the archiver for this platform without delays or delays.
The most important advantage of WinRAR for Mac OS- creating archives in RAR format. No other archiver can do this (more precisely, it is not allowed by the RAR license). Even if you download a third-party archiver whose creators claim that it can create rar archives, to activate this function in it you will have to separately download and install Winrar. Or its RAR module will already be built into the archiver and included in the price.
One of the disadvantages is the lack of its own interface, so WinRAR on MAC OS is often downloaded for use in conjunction with another archiver.
The “rar” archive cannot be opened on a MAC unless you have installed the archiver designed for this - WinRAR. Here you can download WinRAR for Mac OS X for free, or rather its console version (its correct name- RAR).
Unfortunately, WinRAR does not have a graphical interface on Mac OS, but this does not mean that it is difficult to use. It is enough to remember a couple of commands and the process of unpacking archives will not cause you any difficulties.
Installing WinRAR on Mac also occurs from the console (from the terminal). You need to unpack the downloaded archive onto your computer and enter the command install. The installation process is described in detail in this manual.
After installation, type the command rar(or unrar). If the archiver is installed correctly, you will see information about its version and brief information by use.
For help dial:
For example, to create an archive without compression, use the command:
rar a -m0 archive.rar folder/
WITH maximum compression, team:
rar a -m5 archive.rar folder/
To unpack all files into the current directory:
unrar e archive.rar
Advantages of WinRAR for Mac OS
- Easy to use if you know the commands.
But there are not many of them and their syntax is not complicated;
- It is possible to protect your archives with a password and encrypt all archived files;
- Selecting the degree of file compression, archiving without compressing folders and files for ease of storage and sending by mail.
Flaws
- There is no graphical interface, you need to know the commands to work with archives.
Download WinRAR for Mac OS X ( latest version) from the official website at the link below.
Download WinRAR
*from the official website
Gone are the days when archivers were used solely to reduce file sizes in order to write as many of them as possible onto one floppy disk. Today, the main purpose of these applications is to record multiple files into one archive for ease of distribution and storage. This is the type of utility that, although not one of the most important, is still used quite regularly.
BetterZip
One of the most famous, popular and advanced archivers. Opens archives of almost everyone known formats, can create archives (though in in this case support for formats is not so wide), also allows you to view the contents of the archive without first unpacking it. It is possible to create protected archives and test existing ones. The only drawback of the program is that it is paid.
BetterZip
Keka
It is also a fairly well-known archiver, popular due to its free nature. Capable of unpacking most archives existing formats. It can also create archives, but the number of formats is not so wide (for example, it is not possible to create RAR archives). It is believed that the main drawback of this program is its not the most attractive icon.
Keka
WinZip for Mac
"Classic" from Windows world, which also came to OS X. A very advanced solution with good functionality and some useful additional features. At the same time, this same archiver is the most expensive of all that we are considering today.
WinZip for Mac
Zipeg
A free and very simple application designed only for unpacking archives, including those protected by passwords. All most popular formats are supported. If you don't need to create archives, then Zipeg can be good decision. There is a version for both OS X and Windows.
Zipeg
The Unarchiver
Also very simple utility, which can only unpack archives. The most popular formats are supported, which is quite enough for most users. Additional features quite a bit, but this is fully justified by the absolute freeness of the application. This utility is one of the most popular.
Daily articles and news from the world of Apple.
Write about archiving files and archivers for Mac OS suggested by one of the readers who asked me a question: are there archivers and dearchivers for Macs? I will try to describe what Mac OS has out of the box and what else can be delivered to make it comfortable to work with archives.
Archiving Utility - zip archives
One of the conveniences that I discovered at one time after switching from Win to Mac was the built-in support for zip archives in Mac OS X - one of the most common formats, which in many operating systems supported. To create a zip archive, just select the file(s) in the Finder, click right click mouse (or ctrl+click) and select in context menu"Squeeze." After which a zip file is created with a copy of the files and with the name “Archive.zip”, if there is more than one file to be archived, or if there is only one file, then the name of the archive will coincide with the name of the original file.
Unpacking zip files is just as easy as archiving. By default, the Archiving Utility is launched automatically by double click by zip archive, which leads to unpacking the contents of the archive into a folder of the same name if there is more than one file. In addition, the original zip file remains untouched, that is, when unpacking, a copy of the archive contents is created.
The built-in zip support also manifests itself when downloading files from the Web in Safari. After the zip is downloaded, it will be automatically unpacked by the same “Archiving Utility”. In most cases, this default behavior is “just right,” but sometimes it’s annoying.
Working with archives from the Mac OS X Terminal
More experienced users can create archives from the Terminal. There are several utilities for this in Mac OS X, for example, gzip, bzip2, tar. Moreover, if the first two are archivers, then tar is a “packer” of files - it archives a group of files into one without compression. tar is used in conjunction with gzip and bzip2, which, according to the “Unix tradition”, can only compress one file: they perform one function, but well. Therefore, they usually first pack files or folders with files into a tar archive, and then compress the resulting file with gzip or bzip2.
You can read more about these archivers on Wikipedia: , . Many, of course, will not want to bother with the Terminal for archiving files. But it is worth noting that bzip2, for example, compresses better than standard zip or gzip, although it is slower. In addition, gzip is used by Mac OS itself to archive logs, for example.
I often make manual backups of files using the tar utility, which correctly saves information about files and folders (permissions, creation time, etc.). In addition, tar can be “asked” to compress the tar archive into bzip2. As a result, with one command, with the appropriate keys, we get a .tbz file in which the files are correctly packed (tar) and well compressed (bz2).
Non-standard method - .dmg
Among standard set Mac programs OS has Disk Utility, which is not intended for archiving files, but in principle this can be achieved from it. The idea is simple - creating compressed dmg images. To do this you need to Disk Utility“go” to the address “File–>New–>Disk image from folder...” (shortcut Command+Shift+N) and in the dialog that appears, select the folder with the files. Next, in the next dialog for saving the dmg image, select the name and format of the image - “compressed”. If I understand everything correctly, the content will be compressed with the same zip.
I even once tested the compression ratio in dmg and zip. It turns out approximately the same - compressed dmg images are slightly (10%–15%) larger than a zip archive.
I took different types of files with a total size of 100 MB:
Third Party Archivers
The main reason why people reach out to install some kind of program for working with archives is the need to unpack rar files. Historically, rar was widely used on “one sixth of the landmass.” This, in my opinion, is connected with the ability to split a rar archive into volumes (parts), more high degree compression than zip, and a set of all sorts of gadgets like setting passwords for an archive and the like. The level of compression was important 5 years ago, when the price per gigabyte of hard drive space was high, recording to DVD was also expensive, and you couldn’t invest much in email.
As a result, many people on Windows continue to use rar as the main archiver, and there are still a lot of files packed in rar on the Internet.
Stuffit Expander
The program is what is called a “must have”. The main advantages are that it is free and the ability to unpack a bunch of formats, including rar. Stuffit Expander cannot archive at all; for this there is its older (and paid) brother Stuffit Deluxe.
I won’t be mistaken if I say that in 99.9% of cases, the Archiving Utility + Stuffit Expander is enough for a happy mac life.
Stuffit Deluxe
This archiver costs $79, but it can do much more than Stuffit Expander. Firstly, it can compress into more than 20 archive formats, including rar, sitx, cab and all the formats mentioned above in the text. To be honest, I don’t use it, but if you often need to put something exotic on a Mac, or need to split archives into volumes for uploading to file storages(hi Varez:), then Stuffit Deluxe will certainly come in handy.
A good alternative to Stuffit Expander, and the built-in archiver in Mac OS, may be The Unarchiver. From the name it is already clear that the software is designed for unpacking files. The Unarchiver supports many archiving formats (including sitx from the developers of Stuffit), integrates with Finder, and is not confused with English names files, etc. The Unarchiver is free and open-source.
There is nothing like WinRAR for Mac yet. The developers of the rar format have just waited for command-line utilities. It is distributed free of charge as a 40-day version (then you have to pay, although I don’t know how they control it), and if sometimes you need to download it in rar and we are friends with the Terminal, then nothing else is needed for normal operation and a carefree life.
BetterZip
Not very expensive ($19.95) and quite a popular archiver (thanks for the tip in the comments). Supports a lot of formats: IP, SIT, TAR, GZip, BZip2, RAR, 7-Zip, CPIO, ARJ, LZH/LHA, JAR, WAR, CAB, ISO, CHM, RPM, DEB, NSIS, BIN, HQX, DD. In addition, there is support for quick archive preview via Quick Look. To do this, you need to download a special plugin.
It is also worth paying attention to this archiver ($26). Like BetterZip, iArchiver is written in best traditions"Mac-Usability". Supports not many formats: clamps - Zip, DMG, 7-zip, Tar, Gzip, Bzip2, Z and CPIO; unpacks: Zip, RAR, 7-zip, StuffIt, Gzip, Bzip2, ARJ, Z, LhA, DMG, hqx, rpm and so on. In addition, it can convert rar archives in zip. In general, it is simple and understandable.
