How to unrar file on a Mac? This is the question that came up my mind when I got my first MacBook Pro. Actually, extracting RAR files on a Mac can be as easy as pie or as complicated as a 5000-piece jigsaw puzzle, but it depends on the tool that you use to uncompress and extract the contents of the file. While some tools will make you run circles but never give you what you want, there are ways to properly extract RAR files on a Mac. Let's talk about two different but effective ways to do this.

UnRAR files on your Mac from the Finder. If you have saved a.rar file in the Finder, double-click it to open. After opening it, you can view some or all of the contents by highlighting the files and pressing Command+Y. To unzip the contents, follow these steps: Click the Unzip button. The only difference is between the command line program and the GUI app’s. Since the built in Archive Utility doesn’t have a support for rar files its worth having an app that can support these files when the time comes. The app that I use regularly is UnRarX. From the many apps that I have tried it seems to be the best. How to extract a.rar file on a Mac using UnRarX - Duration: 0:50. How To Do Anything TV 2,804 views. How to UNRAR a file - Duration: 3:33. Thejoker37100a 167,670 views. RAR files are a popular file extension for packing file(s) to a compressed format, similar to.zip files. When you download a RAR file, it sometimes will come in “parts”. Each part of file is a subset of the original file of the same size. In order to open the original file, the RAR files are storing, you have to open all of the RAR files.

Part 1. How to Extract RAR File on Mac via Terminal

Although this method requires some preparation, when completed, it will allow you to easily unpackage RAR files directly from Terminal. If you're a developer and use Terminal a lot, then this is a good way to get compressed files unzipped directly from the command line. The instructions below show a detailed stepwise flow of what to do in order to add this capability to Terminal.

Step 1. Download the RAR for Mac OS X utility from RARLab and note down the file path of the download.

Step 2. Open Terminal (Applications >>Utilities >>Terminal; or Cmd+Spacebar to launch Spotlight and search for Terminal). Now enter the following command in Terminal: cd ~/Downloads/rarosx-5.6/rar

Note: Make sure you change the filename based on the version you downloaded.

Step 3. For Mac OS X versions until Yosemite, run the following command to install unRAR: sudo install -c -o $USER unrar /usr/local/bin

Step 4. Enter the root password if prompted at the previous command. To extract a file, use the following command, replacing the entire part with the file path with the appropriate one: unrar x /path/to/file.part01.rar

This is a great way to do it, of course, but extracting files on Mac OS X Yosemite and later macOS versions requires an additional step. Before executing Step 3 above, you will need to create the '/usr/local/bin' folder location since there's no default one. In addition, you need separate commands to open archives that are password-protected, which they usually are when the information inside is confidential.

Cons:

• Complex and not user friendly.
• Only for RAR files archived by WinRAR.
• Need to download extra tool from unknown sources.
• Failed on latest macOS build.

Part 2 : How to Open RAR File on Mac via CleanGeeker Unarchiver App

Believe it or not, even though the RAR extraction capability of CleanGeeker is superior to most other utilities, it is actually an add-on feature. Essentially a Mac memory and resource optimization tool, this software nevertheless has an excellent archive extraction feature.

TunesBro CleanGeeker is built for functionality, but the UI is quite appealing as well. The complex settings are mostly in the background so it's easy for novice users to learn how to use the software. This section shows you how to easily and quickly extract RAR on a Mac using CleanGeeker.

Highlights of TunesBro CleanGeeker

• Extract and open various archive files, including RAR, ZIP, GZ, TAR, TAR.GZ, etc.
• Boost Mac performance by cleaning up junk and tmp files.
• One-click find and remove duplicate files on local hard drive.
• Get more free memory by closing apps running in background.

Step 1Install and Open TunesBro CleanGeeker on Mac

Install CleanGeeker app on your Mac after downloading it from the official website of TunesBro. When you launch the program you'll see a home page with scan and clean functions. Below it, on the left-panel, you'll see tabs for other functions. Click on 'Unarchiver'.

Step 2Add RAR File to CleanGeeker

Select 'Open RAR' in the next window. Within the module, select the file to be extracted, specify the destination folder and click on 'Extract'. That's it. Your extracted files will now be available in the specified destination folder. You can see how easy it is to use, and you'll be done in just a couple of minutes.

The real power in the software is what it can do to keep your Mac running optimally at all times. Periodic junk cleaning and deep cleaning your system will make sure that unwanted files and data aren't clogging up valuable memory space. Remove duplicates is also pretty fast ; digitally shred your private files and make them unrecoverable; even speed up your startup process. For extracting RAR files, it is one of the simplest and most powerful applications you'll find, and it supports zip, bzip, gzip and several other archive file formats.

Conclusion:

The choice is a simple one: you can either do it from the command line after installing unRAR and execute several processes before you can start extracting RAR files, or you can do it right away after installing CleanGeeker. Unless you're comfortable with command line work, the first method is not at all recommended. If you get a command wrong or a typo in a filename, it will prevent you from extracting anything after all that work. Besides, not many users are comfortable installing an app and then using it without a graphical interface.

Related Articles & Tips

Application

Hey

There are many ways in which you can unrar rar files. In a similar method of yesterdays post on how to play mkv files, today’s post is going to mention some of the different ways to unrar rar archives. Since there are many ways to skin a cat there are also many ways to unrar these archives. Pretty much every app mentioned here does the same thing and there isn’t much difference between them. The only difference is between the command line program and the GUI app’s. Since the built in Archive Utility doesn’t have a support for rar files its worth having an app that can support these files when the time comes.

UnRarX

The app that I use regularly is UnRarX. From the many apps that I have tried it seems to be the best. Like most of these apps it is a no nonsense app that gets the job done. Unlike most other apps it has a small window which tells you what it is doing rather than a simple progress bar. This way when you get a corrupt archive or a file that won’t fully extract it will tell you what exactly is happening and you should be able to quickly diagnose the problem.

Command Line

One the other ways that I personally use to extract rar archives is the WinRAR command line tool. I have mentioned in the past how to use this tool and one of the main advantages of using it is the ability to extract broken archives quickly. Although other programs have broken file support I prefer a to use a quick terminal command to get the job. Its also very useful for use in scripts and has come in handy many times.

Stuffit Expander

I used the app a long time ago it is Stuffit Expander. It works in much the same way as the other apps in this post. Stuffit Expander is designed to work with the other Stuffit Apps which is great if you do a lot of compression and extraction of files. It does work on its own so you don’t need the rest of the suite. If you want something that looks a bit prettier Stuffit Expander is a good choice.

A more general expanding app.

iArchiver

Continuing on with the list is iArchiver. Its the first and only paid app on this list. Unlike the other apps it is designed primarily to compress files into archives, although it does have extraction capabilities as well. Its very similar to the Stuffit suite however it is only one app and not a couple of apps as is the case with Stuffit. I have reviewed this app in the past and if you are going to use this app its worth checking out what I have said.

RAR Expander

The last two options on the list are very simple expander’s. Similar to the way Archive Utility is used to expand zip files, RAR Expander does this for rar files. If you want a simple expander this app is probably for you.

A simple app that gets the job done.

Unarchiver

The final post to complete everything off is Unarchiver. Its a simple free app that is very similar to RAR Expander. I haven’t tried it however it is probably very good.

If you have an unraring app that you recommend please leave a comment using the form below.

How To Unrar Files

Rar Extractor

Related posts:

Unrar Files For Mac

Where To Next?