The Unarchiver

Version4(as of 4/14/2023)
PlatformMac
LicenseFreeware
CategoryUtility
Go to Website
Rating:2.6  |  135 Votes

Main Features

  • Can decompress and extract files from nearly any archive
  • Is free, easy to set up, and easy to use
  • Opens archives that have non-English characters in their filenames

Software Overview

Screenshot of The Unarchiver 4
Screenshot of The Unarchiver 4

The Unarchiver is a free archive decompression utility for macOS. It supports many more formats than macOS's default Archive Utility and is easy to set up and use.

After you install The Unarchiver, right-click an archive file (such as a .ZIP or .RAR file) and select Get Info. Then, in the Open with: section, select The Unarchiver and Change All.... This will set The Unarchiver as your default archive decompression utility.

You can view the types of archives The Unarchiver opens from the app's Preferences menu. From this menu, you can also modify some advanced extraction settings (though you likely will not need to).

Summary

The Unarchiver is a big upgrade to Apple Archive Utility. And since The Unarchiver is free (and doesn't show ads), there's no reason every macOS user shouldn't install it.

Primary File Type

zip icon.ZIPZipped File

Supported File Types

ExtensionFile Type
.ZIPZipped File
.001Split Archive Part 1
.7Z7-Zip Compressed File
.ACEWinAce Compressed Archive
.ADFAmiga Disk File
.ALZALZip Archive
.ARCCompressed File Archive
.ARJARJ Compressed File Archive
.BZBzip Compressed File
.BZ2Bzip2 Compressed File
.CPGZCompressed CPIO Archive
.CPTCompact Pro Archive
.DDDiskDoubler Archive
.GZGnu Zipped Archive
.GZIPGnu Zipped File
.LHALHARC Compressed Archive
.LZHLZH Compressed File
.LZMALZMA Compressed File
.LZXAmiga LZX Compressed Archive
.PAKPAK Compressed Archive
.PAXPAX Archive
.PITPackIt Archive
.RARWinRAR Compressed Archive
.SARSAPCAR Archive
.SEASelf-Extracting Archive
.SITXStuffIt X Archive
.TARTape Archive
.TAR.GZCompressed Tarball File
.TAZTar Zipped File
.TXZXZ Compressed Tar Archive
.WARCWeb Archive
.XZXZ Compressed Archive
.ZUnix Compressed File
.Z01First Split Zip File
.ZIPXExtended Zip Archive

Additional Related File Types

ExtensionFile Type
.002Split Archive Part 2
.ADZCompressed Amiga Disk File
.ASAppleSingle File
.BINMacBinary Encoded File
.BZIP2Bzip2 Compressed Archive
.CABWindows Cabinet File
.CBRComic Book RAR Archive
.CDIDiscJuggler Disc Image
.CPIOUnix CPIO Archive
.DEBDebian Software Package
.DMSAmiga Disk Masher Image
.EXEWindows Executable File
.GTARGNU Tar Archive
.GZ2Misnamed BZ2 File
.HAHA Compressed Archive
.HQXBinHex 4.0 Encoded File
.ISODisc Image File
.LBRLU Library Archive
.LQRSqueeze-Compressed LBR File
.LZRCrunch-Compressed LBR File
.MACBINMacbinary Encoded File
.MDFMedia Disc Image File
.MSIWindows Installer Package
.NRGNero CD/DVD Image File
.RPMRed Hat Package Manager File
.SDZNCI Compressed Database
.SITStuffIt Archive
.TAR.GZ2Misnamed BZ2 Tarball
.XARExtensible Archive Format File
.XIPmacOS Signed Archive
.Z02Second Split Zip File
.Z03Third Split Zip File
.Z04Fourth Split Zip File
.ZOOZoo Compressed File
Updated 4/14/2023