Emails and messaging apps on your Mac are great tools for communication and sending small files. But there are times when you need to send a large file over the Internet.
Unarchiver is a freeware application for Mac. The primary purpose of the application is to open, compress and decompress all sorts of archive file formats on your Mac. You may use Unarchiver to compress your large files before sharing them with your family and friends. Unarchiver supports a range of archive formats including many popular ones, unpopular ones and obsolete formats.
Unarchiver is available as a DMG file for download on its website, or it can also be installed from the Mac App Store.
Key Features:
- Unarchive is a free alternative to Mac’s native archiving functionality.
- Unarchiver supports non-Latin characters.
- Unarchiver is easy to install. It just takes a few clicks to install Unarchiver and make it your default application for opening archives.
- View the entire contents of your archives
- Remotely view the contents of your archives using an iPad or iPhone
- Preview the contents of your photos, and documents and play music straight from the Unarchiver. No need to extract any files for previewing.
- Command-line parameters to perform compression, and decompression using your Mac’s Terminal.
How to Use Unarchiver
Step 1: Install Unarchiver
Option 1: Using the Website
- Visit the Unarchiver official website.
- Click on the Download button.
- A DMG file will start downloading. Once it is finished, double-click to open it.
- The installer will open.
- Drag the Unarchiver icon to the Applications folder icon to install it.
Option 2: Using the Terminal
- Open Terminal.
- Type in the following command: sudo apt-get install unar
- Press Enter.
Option 3: Using Apple Mac Store
- Open the Unarchiver page on the Apple Mac Store.
- Click on the Install button.
Step 2: Open an Archive
Option 1: Using Drag & Drop Interface
- Open the Unarchiver application.
- Drag and drop the archive you want to open in the application window.
Option 2: Using Right-click Menu
- Now that the application is installed, you can open your first archive. To do so, right-click on any archive file (such as, .zip, .rar) and select Open with > The Unarchiver.
Step 3: Extract Archive Contents
- To extract the contents of an already opened archive, select the files/ folders you want to extract and then click on the large “Unarchive” icon on the top right.
Step 4: Create a New Archive
Option 1: Using Drag & Drop Interface
- Open Unarchiver.
- Select the multiple files and folders you want to compress and drag over them to the Unarchiver interface.
- Click on the large Compress icon on the toolbar.
- Specify the name for your archive, its location, and archive format. If you want to encrypt the archive, check the “Encrypt” option and password-protect your archive.
- Finally, click on Compress.
Option 2: Using Right-Click Menu
- Right-click on the files and folders you want to compress. You can select multiple files and folders at once.
- Select the Compress option.
- Specify the name, location and archive format. To password-protect and encrypt your archive, use the “Encrypt” option.
- Click on the Compress button.
File Extraction Options
Unarchiver can be configured the way you like. In the Preferences dialog, you can choose how Unarchiver behaves on different events and occasions.
- Extract archive to: By default, Unarchiver extracts your files in the same folder as the archive file. However, you can change it and set a static folder, if you want.
- Create a new folder for extracted files: Your extracted files can be stored in the same folder as the “Extract archive to” folder, or extracted to a new folder inside the “Extract archive to” folder. Unarchiver also provides an option to create a separate folder only if there are more than one top-level item.
- After successfully extracting an archive: Here, you can specify if you want to open the extracted folder, or move the archive to the Trash after extraction is finished. You can also uncheck both of these options so that the program will not take any action.
- Set the modification date of the created folder to: Specify if you want to set the current date and time or modification date of the archive file to the created folder. If you want to apply the modification date for single top-level items, check the box labeled “Also set the modification date of single top-level items”.