RAR is a file compression format that is used to reduce the size of large files. It’s similar to ZIP files and it’s common on the Windows platform. However, there are times when you need to open a RAR file on your Mac. In that situation, you will need to download and install third-party software in order to view the contents of a RAR file.
In this post, Apple Repair Hong Kong will list several programs that you can use (both free and paid) to uncompress a RAR archive.
StuffIt Expander
The first free app I could find for opening RAR files on a Mac is StuffIt Expander. You can download this program for your Mac from here:
http://www.stuffit.com/mac-expander.html
In addition to opening RAR archives, the program can open Zip archives, encrypted Zip archives, TAR archives, 7Zip archives, and lots more. Note that StuffIt Expander may not be able to open RAR volumes, i.e. .rar00, .rar01, etc. When opening these types of archives, always open the .rar00 file first and all the other archives will automatically be opened.
UnRarX
Another free program you can use to open RAR files on a Mac i s UnRarX. You can download it here:
http://www.unrarx.com/
Unlike StuffIt Expander, this program only works with RAR files. To use the program, open it and simply drag and drop the archive into the main window. UnRarX also supports password protected RAR files, so you can open those with this app. Mac Repair Hong Kong recommends as best among all for free.
The Unarchiver
The third program that is free and that can open RAR files on a Mac is The Unarchiver, which can be downloaded here:
http://wakaba.c3.cx/s/apps/unarchiver.html
This program also supports a wide array of formats including 7zip, Gzip, TAR, etc. It also supports the split volume files too, which is nice.
Archiver App
Another good program for opening different archive formats on your Mac is Archiver. It’s not free like the other two apps, but it works really well and it works with those volume RAR archives (.rar00, .rar01, etc).
Not only does it support a ton of formats, it also lets you split and combine files if you have a file that is too large to fit onto one disk. You can also create password-protected and encrypted archive files. For $19, it’s not a bad price at all for the feature set.
There are other programs that also open RAR archives on Mac, but these are the most popular recommended by Apple Repair Hong Kong that work the best. If you know of something better, please post a comment!
