Unfortunately, you can’t open a RAR archive with Mac’s default tools due to the format’s closed proprietary nature. rar on Mac? Quickly Open RAR Files On Mac 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.

Right-click or control-click on the file to bring up the pop-up menu.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.

Select the file or folder in the Finder.

Smith Micro, StuffIt's owner, also makes StuffIt Expander (opens in new tab) for Mac users who just want to open archives.

One of the most historically popular commercial Mac compression apps is called StuffIt (opens in new tab) - it supports features like encryption and password protection, support for Apple's Automator software and more. There are also third-party utilities that can help you compress and decompress files, too, and they'll work with many non-ZIP formats. You should find out if ZIP archiving will save you enough time and enough space to make it worth your while: You may find that you can save hundreds of gigabytes this way, or you may ultimately decide it's more worth your while to simply buy a large external hard drive instead. Regardless, if you've never compressed a file before, it's worth the experiment.

How to zip multiple files on mac