wakaba.c3.cx :: Applications :: The Unarchiver

The Unarchiver  v2.7.1

On the Mac App Store Download Source code Discussion thread Bug tracker Older versions Even older versions

The Unarchiver is a much more capable replacement for "Archive Utility.app", the built-in archive unpacker program on Mac OS X. The Unarchiver is designed to handle many more formats than Archive Utility, and to better fit in with the design of the Finder. It can also handle filenames in foreign character sets, created with non-English versions of other operating systems. I personally find it useful for opening Japanese archives, but it should handle many other languages just as well.

It is very simple to use and install - simply copy it into your Applications folder or whereever you prefer, and then set archive filetypes to open using it. This can either be done the usual way, or by double-clicking the icon to show The Unarchiver's preferences.

Supported file formats include Zip, Tar-GZip, Tar-BZip2, RAR, 7-zip, LhA, StuffIt and many other old and obscure formats. See further down the page for a more complete list of supported formats.

Other platforms

The Unarchiver is a Mac OS X app, but the underlying unarchiving code can be run on other OSes too. There is so far no GUI app for any other OS, but there are two command-line tools, unar and lsar, which can be used on Mac OS X, Windows and Linux. These are in development and should be considered beta software, but do work.

Windows

The Windows versions are currently cross-compiled with Cocotron on OS X. You can download binary versions on the Google Code download page: http://code.google.com/p/theunarchiver/downloads/list

Linux

On Linux, you will need to download the source code and compile the tools by hand. To do this, you will need to find and install the required third-party libraries that the XADMaster library depends on (GNUstep, zlib, libbzip2, OpenSSL, and ICU). How to do that depends on which distribution you are using. On Ubuntu, the following should work:

sudo apt-get install build-essential libgnustep-base-dev libz-dev libbz2-dev libssl-dev libicu-dev
cd XADMaster
make -f Makefile.linux

Supported formats

An incomplete list of formats supported by The Unarchiver follows below. The libxad library which is part of The Unarchiver supports even more old formats, especially Amiga-specific ones.

Supported popular formats

FormatSupport levelNotes
ZipFullFull support for the normal zip format, with additional support for AES encryption, Zip64 extensions for large files, Mac OS extensions of many different kinds, and several unusual compression methods (Deflate64, Bzip, LZMA, PPMd). Can also extract .EXE self-extracting files using Zip.
RARFullIncluding encryption and multiple volumes. Can also extract .EXE self-extracting files using RAR.
7zNo encryptionMost compression methods are supported, but no encryption. Also supports Unix extensions.
TarFull 
GzipFull 
Bzip2Full 
LZMA, XZFullBoth the old "LZMA-alone" format, usually named .lzma, and the new .xz format.
CABFull 
MSIFullThis format is also used by many other Microsoft formats, meanings that you can use The Unarchiver to extract internal data from DOC and PPT files, and others. There is probably no reason to do this, but you can.
NSISExtensiveSupports many different versions, starting from version 1.1o
EXESomeMany kinds of .exe self-extracting formats are supported. However, if you find one that is not, please post an issue on the bug tracker.
ISO, BINExtensiveMost common disc images can be unpacked, both normal and raw.
Split filesBasicCan join files named .001, .002 that do not use any extra wrapper format.

Supported old formats

FormatSupport levelWas popular onNotes
StuffItNo encryptionMac OSCan unpack all files I've been able to locate.
StuffIt XPartialMac OSCan unpack many files, some more obscure features are still unsupported. JPEG compression is also unsupported.
DiskDoublerAlmost fullMac OSOnly lacks some old compression methods, because I have not been able to locate any files using these. If you have some that do not work, please post them here.
Compact ProNo encryptionMac OS 
PackItFullMac OS 
CpioFullUnix 
Compress (.Z)FullUnix 
ARJNo multi-partDOS  
ARC, PAKFullDOSFull support for all algorithms, including proprietary ones from PAK. Encryption only works in command-line utilities.
AceOnly old filesDOSNo support for Ace 2.0 and up (WinAce).
ZooFullDOS 
LZHFullDOS, Amiga (as LhA) 
ADFFFSAmiga (emulated)Can extract files from Amiga disk images using the regular FFS file system.
DMSFFSAmigaCan extract files from compressed Amiga disk images using the regular FFS file system.
LZXFullAmiga 
PowerPackerFullAmiga 
LBRFullCP/M, DOS 
SqueezeFullCP/M, DOS 
CrunchFullCP/M 
...  Many other old formats, especially Amiga-specific ones, are also supported through libxad, but I have not made a full survey of which ones.

Supported unusual formats

FormatSupport levelNotes
XARFullSuggested replacement for Tar on Unix. Used in some newer .pkg files on Mac OS X.
RPMFullLinux package format.
ALZipNo encryptionArchive format which is mainly popular in South Korea. Support for all known compression methods, including Bzip2, Deflate and obfuscated Deflate.
NSA, SARPartialGame data file. Can unpack all files I've found. If you have ones that do not unpack, please post an issue.
NDSFullNintendo DS ROM image, which can contain a file system.

If you have a compressed file that The Unarchiver does not open, please post a bug on the bug tracker, and include the file in question, and I will look into whether it is possible to add support for it!

New in 2.7.1:

New in 2.7:

New in 2.6:

New in 2.5:

New in 2.4:

New in 2.3:

New in 2.2:

New in 2.1:

New in 2.0.3:

New in 2.0.2:

New in 2.0.1:

New in 2.0:

New in 1.6.1:

New in 1.6:

New in 1.5:

New in 1.4:

New in 1.3:

New in 1.2:

New in 1.1:

Do not click this link. It is here to get rid of mail harvesters.