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From time to time, we have to deal with zip files in our day-to-day work. Maybe your friend sends you a zipped archive of photos of the party you were in last week or maybe your colleague sends you a file of documents. It’s not that often, but it happens. Moreover, zip files are very useful, when sending emails using Google Mail, because there’s a limited amount of space that is allowed to be sent. If you’re running windows, there’s no big of a deal, unzipping the files. But what about Mac?

Have you ever opened a zip file on Mac? Do you know the best way to do that? There are three main methods for it. You can use built-in utilities, Terminal or third-party apps. In this article, we’ll cover best zipping and unzipping options available for your Mac.

The Common Way

Mac OS X and macOS both come with a built-in compression system that can zip and unzip files. This integrated system is relatively basic, which is why many third-party apps are also available. A quick look at the Mac App Store reveals more than 50 apps for zipping and unzipping files. Unzip files on a Mac. Unzipping files on your Mac is simple. The best method is using the built-in Archive Utility app. The process is simple, and essentially a reversal of the process for zipping a file. Here's how to unzip files: Right-click the zipped folder or file you'd like to unzip; Select 'open with' Select 'Archive Utility'. Unzip files and folders on Mac. There’s nothing to do when you need to unzip a zipped file except double-click on it. The Archive Utility that you use to zip files unzips them for you as well. So, you don’t need a third-party app and you don’t need to open the Archive Utility because it handles those compressed files for you automatically.

Unzip files mac free download - WinZip Mac, 1 Click Unzip, Automatically Unzip Files Software, and many more programs. Unzip free download - 1 Click Unzip, Unzip Wizard, WinZip - Zip UnZip Tool, and many more programs.

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The common way to zip and unzip files is by using your Mac’s Archive Utility, which can be accessed through Applications > Utilities folder. Archive Utility has the basic file compression functionality. You can quickly zip and unzip files and folders, to send to your friend or upload to Dropbox.

Archive Utility can easily zip single files and folders, by right-clicking it and choosing Compress function. When compressing multiple items, the process is about the same, with only a few minor differences. Instead of showing a name of file or folder that is being compressed, in the pop-up menu, the word Compress will be followed by the number of items that are being selected. Moreover, the zip file will be automatically called Archive.zip and will be stored in the same folder as the files you were compressing.

If you want to unzip your files, the process is, all the same, just reversed. You simply right-click the zip archive, choose “Open with” and then select Archive Utility. Moments later, the archive will be unzipped. The only downside is that Archive Utility has only these two functions – compressing and decompressing. If you would want to preview the content of your archive, protect it with a password, merge the archives or use the extended range of file types like RAR, you’d need special tools. Luckily for you, there’s a vast selection of those tools. You can check “Setapp” guide called The Easiest Way to Archive Files on a Mac to learn more.

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Compressions Tips Using Terminal

Archive Utility’s lack of functionality can be fixed by using the Terminal. Have you ever used the Terminal on your Mac? If you’re not a programmer, chances are you haven’t. The reason is that it’s not that user-friendly. Instead, you can search third-party apps, that covers all the functionality of the Archive Utility, but at the same times packs high-end features.

These features can be adding comments to the archives and deleting files from archives without unzipping it. Moreover, most of the apps are fully integrated with the macOS workflow so they will work without problems. You can also find applications for zipping and unzipping files that suggest passwords for you to use to encrypt archives.

Creating an Encrypted Archive

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Computer security is a very valuable thing in today’s digital world. Unfortunately, Apple’s Archive Utility doesn’t offer ZIP archives’ encryption with a password. The good thing is that there’s a way to do it if needed. The bad thing is that to do that, you’ll need to use the Terminal. To do so, you’ll need to open the Terminal, which can be easily accessed by pressing command + spacebar and typing “Terminal” into the search bar. In the opened window follow these actions:

Type the following command: (single space) zip -e ~/Desktop/Archive.zip
Drag the folder containing the files you wish to archive to the Terminal window and the command will look like this: zip -e ~/Desktop/Archive.zip /path-to-folder
Lastly, press Enter and create a password to use for the archive and the encrypted file will appear on your desktop.

This process might look and feel a bit complicated and inconvenient, but if you need to use encryption only once or twice there’s no need to look for other alternatives. For those people who are encrypting files regularly, a third-party app is a must. It will make the process of encrypting archives effortless and much faster.

Terminal

Hey New photos app for mac.

Terminal, the wonder app, can do pretty much anything. This post is going to show you how you can unzip files using Terminal. I will also show you how you can can combine commands to download and unzip files really quickly. Its really simple to complete. You may want to use Terminal since you can access extra options which you may normally be hidden away from you.

The first step is to open Terminal. Use the “cd” command to change the directory to the location where you want to unzip the zip file. For example you can use:

cd ./Desktop

The next step is to invoke the unzip command. Type the following into Terminal. This assumes you have a zip file ready to unzip.

Unzip Files Mac Apple

unzip file.zip

This will unzip you file into you desktop location. If you want to change this location you can type the following.

unzip file.zip -d ~/another/folder

You can also remove all of the text that Terminal will output when you run the command by adding a modifier/option to the front of the syntax.

unzip -q file.zip

Optionally you can also add more information by adding a verbose option. This will show you all of the details of the file you unzip.

unzip -v file.zip

You can combine this command with other command so you can download and unzip a file automatically. For example if you have wget installed you can type in Terminal.

cd ~/download;wget http://www.example.com/file/zip;unzip file.zip

The different commands are separated by a semi-colon (;). The previous command will change your directory to your downloads folder. It will then grab the zip file from your website and unzip the file to your location.

The one problem with unzip command is that it creates a an extra folder call

The Common Way

Compressions Tips Using Terminal

Creating an Encrypted Archive

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Unzip Files Mac Apple