archives on your mac
macOS opens zip and gives up on almost everything else. a rar someone emailed you, a 7z from a download page, a tar.gz from a repository — all of them stop at a double click. hop.tools opens the formats you actually meet, and packs files back up when you need to send them on.
formats it handles
- zip — including archives macOS itself refuses with an unhelpful error
- rar, the one that stops a double click cold
- 7z
- tar, tar.gz, tar.bz2 and tar.xz
- gz
the list is deliberately the formats that turn up in real life, not a catalogue of everything that ever existed.
how to open a rar file on a mac
- drop the archive into the window, or paste it with ⌘V
- choose where it should land: the Desktop, next to the original, or any folder you pick
- press the button — nothing happens until you do, so a stray drop costs you nothing
- the files appear where you asked, and the archive stays where it was
you can also let hop.tools open archives from Finder. then a double click unpacks the file right beside itself, in a small progress window, and the detour through an app disappears entirely.
packing, not only unpacking
drop ordinary files instead of an archive and the same window packs them up. useful for the everyday case of sending a folder to someone who does not want fourteen separate attachments.
nothing runs until you say so
an archive from a stranger is not a thing you want opening itself. dropping a file into hop.tools does not start anything: the window shows what it is holding and waits for the button.
everything happens locally. no file is uploaded, nothing is inspected by a server, and it works with the wi-fi off.
how it compares
The Unarchiver is free and opens a long list of formats, but it only extracts — it cannot pack anything back up.
Keka does both and does them well; it is free from the developer's site and paid on the App Store.
if archives are a daily job, either of those is a fine dedicated tool. this module is for the more common case: a rar turns up once a fortnight, and you would rather not keep an app around for it — especially when the same icon also holds fifteen other tools.
frequently asked questions
- can it open rar files?
- yes — rar, 7z, zip, tar, tar.gz, tar.bz2, tar.xz and gz. rar is the format macOS itself will not open, and it is the reason most people go looking.
- can it create archives too?
- yes. drop ordinary files instead of an archive and it packs them for you.
- where do the unpacked files go?
- the Desktop by default, or next to the original, or any folder you choose. the setting is yours and it sticks.
- can i unpack straight from Finder?
- yes. let hop.tools open archives, and a double click unpacks the file right beside itself in a small progress window.
- does anything get uploaded?
- no. unpacking and packing happen on your Mac, and both work with no connection at all.
other tools in hop.tools
- Text Recognition — Pull text off anything on screen — even a paused video or a locked PDF.
- Color Picker — Any pixel on screen, in hex, rgb and hsl at once.
- Keep Awake — Downloads, renders and calls run to the end. Even with the lid closed.