The app is very powerful and even does what the built-in Archive Utility can’t - extracts RAR archives. As the name indicates, it unpacks almost any archive instantly without launching the app. Note: BetterZip isn’t freeware, but a free trial is offered.

I recommend BetterZip to those of you who often handle a different kind of files on a PC and Mac. Those additional features are not available in The Unarchiver or Archive Utility. Quick update: I just found a more powerful app called BetterZip - which allows you to not only extract many types of archives, but you can also use it to create archives or preview content of an archive without extracting. I’ve tested many and here are the ones that still work. But we have quite a few free options to get the job done. Some are dated, while some require you to pay. That’s why there are plenty of third-party apps available on the Internet that claim to be able to do that. Unlike other archive files, for example, a ZIP archive can be directly created or extracted by using the default function on Mac, a RAR file can only be opened using third-party software…which, unfortunately, Apple has not built into the Archive Utility, yet.

They are also easier to split or to recover once corrupted than other alternatives like ZIP or 7Zip files.

With a RAR, it’s much easier to store on removable media or transferred over the Internet.Īccording to this comparison image provided by Compression Ratings, RAR files achieve much higher compression, especially on multimedia files. Why use RAR? Because it reduces the size of your files and folders while keeping all the content 100% intact. rar file is like a big data container that holds a set of individual files and folders inside. RAR is a compressed file short for Roshal Archive. Free RAR Extractor Apps That Work on Mac.

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