Open Rar Files on Mac OS X

Compressed archive files such as RAR and ZIP files are widely used to reduce the size of files when sending them over the Internet, and also to bundle associated files together when passing them to others. While ZIP files can be natively accessed on a Mac by the Mac OS X operating system, RAR format files require you to use third party software to get to the contents within.

Steps

Using The Unarchiver

  1. Download The Unarchiver from the developer's website. You can find it at unarchiver.c3.cx. The Unarchiver is a free, open-source program that supports a wide variety of archive files, including RAR.
    • You can now download The Unarchiver from the Mac App Store.
  2. Install The Unarchiver. If you downloaded the program from the developer, you'll need double-click it to extract it and then drag the extracted folder into your Applications folder. If you got it from the Mac App Store, you won't need to perform any additional steps.
  3. Double-click The Unarchiver in your Applications folder. This will open the Preferences menu for the program.
  4. Check the "RAR Archive" box. This will enable The Unarchiver to open RAR files automatically.
  5. Double-click your RAR file. The Unarchiver should start up and begin extracting the files automatically. If it doesn't, right-click the file, select "Open With", and then choose The Unarchiver from your Applications list.
    • If you are trying to extract a multi-part RAR file, start with the ".rar" or ".part001.rar" file. Make sure all the parts are in the same folder.
    • If the RAR file has a password, you will be prompted to enter it before the files can be extracted.
  6. Find your extracted files. By default, The Unarchiver will extract the files into the same folder that the RAR file was in. You should be able to find a folder with the same name as the RAR file, which contains all of the extracted files and folders.

Using UnRarX

  1. Download UnRarX from the developer's website. You can download UnRarX for free from unrarx.com. You cannot download it from the Mac App Store.
  2. Extract the downloaded file. Double-click on the ZIP file that you download from the UnRarX website. This will extract the program to a folder.
  3. Drag the extracted folder into your Applications folder. This will install UnRarX on your Mac.
  4. Start UnRarX. The quickest way to extract RAR files using UnRarX is by starting the UnRarX program first.
  5. Drag the RAR file you want to extract into the UnRarX window. This will begin the extraction process. The window will display information about the archive as it is extracting.
    • If you are extracting a multi-part RAR file, drag the ".rar" or ".part001.rar" file into the UnRarX window. Make sure all the parts are in the same folder.
    • If the RAR file has a password, you will be prompted to enter it before the files can be extracted.
  6. Wait for the extraction to finish. You will see words "All OK" at the bottom of the display once the extraction is complete.
  7. Find your extracted files. Your extracted files will be found in a folder in the same location as the RAR file you extracted.
  8. Set future RAR files to open in UnRarX. Instead of having to drag the files each time, you can set your Mac to automatically open RAR files in UnRarX when you double-click them. Right-click on a RAR file, select "Open With", and then choose UnRarX from your list of Applications.

Using StuffIt Expander

  1. Download StuffIt Expander from the developer's website. StuffIT Expander is a free utility developed by SmithMicro. You can download it from my.smithmicro.com/stuffit-expander-mac.html.
    • If you are using OS X 10.7 or lower, make sure to download the older version from the Download page.
    • You can also download StuffIt Expander from the Mac App Store.
  2. Double-click the DMG file. This will start the installer for StuffIt Expander. Drag the StuffIt Expander icon into the Applications folder to install it.
  3. Open StuffIt Expander. Click the "StuffIt Expander" menu and select "Preferences". This will open the Preferences menu.
  4. Click the Advanced tab. this will let you set the file associations for StuffIt Expander.
  5. Select RAR from the list and click .. This will set StuffIt Expander to automatically open RAR files.
  6. Double-click the RAR file you want to expand. StuffIt Expander will start automatically, and you may be prompted to choose where you want to save the extracted files.
    • If StuffIt Expander doesn't start, you can drag the RAR file onto the StuffIt Expander icon.
    • If you are trying to extract a multi-part RAR file, start with the ".rar" or ".part001.rar" file. Make sure all the parts are in the same folder.
    • If the RAR file has a password, you will be prompted to enter it before the files can be extracted.
  7. Find your extracted files. After the extraction process is complete, you can find the files in your extraction location. By default, this is the same folder as the RAR file.

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