There are literally dozens of archiving formats in existence, but it’s likely that you’ll only ever meet two: ZIP and RAR. This file format's primary purpose is data compression to save space.Ĭreating RAR files is only possible with licensed commercial software, like WinRAR for Windows or command-line RAR (also supports macOS)

Eugene Roshal developed the format in 1993, and the name of the format is short for Roshal Archive. The first goal relies heavily on a compression algorithm and thus differs from format to format, whereas the second goal is equally achievable by all popular archivers on the market.

In general, archives help us achieve two essential goals: decrease file size and unite a group of files into a single package. But few of us stop and think why exactly do we do this. Occasionally, we might be even packaging and distributing archives ourselves. Do check out our other guides on how to edit PDF documents in Mac.Compress and unpack any files on Mac with Archiver.Īll of us from time to time receive digital archive packages, whether they are downloaded online or get sent over by our friends. That is all you need to know about how to unrar. If you will go to its Options menu, you can check as many boxes as you want to make it your default decompression software. The Unarchiver application for Mac supports a large number of compressed files.

Finally, press the Extract button to start decompression.

Select the destination directory for the files to unzip or unrar.

Next, go to the location of the RAR file and to open it, just double-click on the same file.

In the next window, just tick mark the RAR Archive option.

After the software is installed, open the Dashboard by pressing the F4 key, and then open The Unarchiver.

Next, you have to tap on the cloud icon (or click Get) to install The Unarchiver software.

After that, in the search box, type The Unarchiver.First of all, click on the Apple menu at the top left of the screen and then click on App Store.

It is available on the App Store for free and will allow you to easily extract all your. In this guide, we will suggest using an application called The Unarchiver. You have to download and install a third-party software to open and extract RAR files on Mac Monterey. How to open and extract RAR files on a Mac In this way, you only have to download one file (or can upload a file to an email), and the receiver will only have to download one file instead of several separate files. Both are dedicated zip file formats for compressing various files into one file. A RAR file is actually very similar to a ZIP file.

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