

RAR, on the other hand, is a proprietary archiving format that requires a RAR opener for Mac to operate. ZIP has been around for more than 30 years and is easily readable by your Mac’s default archiving utility. There are literally dozens of archiving formats in existence, but it’s likely that you’ll only ever meet two: ZIP and RAR. This file format's primary purpose is data compression to save space.Ĭreating RAR files is only possible with licensed commercial software, like WinRAR for Windows or command-line RAR (also supports macOS) Eugene Roshal developed the format in 1993, and the name of the format is short for Roshal Archive. The first goal relies heavily on a compression algorithm and thus differs from format to format, whereas the second goal is equally achievable by all popular archivers on the market. In general, archives help us achieve two essential goals: decrease file size and unite a group of files into a single package. But few of us stop and think why exactly do we do this. Occasionally, we might be even packaging and distributing archives ourselves. Compared to the Archive Utility, The Unarchiver is a complete tool that gives you additional functionality when it comes to unpacking your archives.Compress and unpack any files on Mac with Archiver.Īll of us from time to time receive digital archive packages, whether they are downloaded online or get sent over by our friends. This app allows you to create, open, and extract RAR files, as well as almost any other kind of archive formats on your computer.

If you need to open or extract RAR files on Mac, one of the best options is The Unarchiver. Plus, it can only handle a limited amount of archive formats. However, it doesn’t give you much control over the process.

Mac has a native program hidden in a system folder called Archive Utility that allows you to create compressed files and manage various archives. To extract the contents of your RAR file, right-click it and select 7-Zip > Extract. You can do this with or without opening the 7-Zip app first. After that, you can double-click any RAR file to open it and extract its contents. To get started with 7-Zip, you need to download the software from the website and install it on your Windows computer.
