Best file compression apps for macOS and iOS

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In 1987 – only a few years after the delivery of GUI computing and the primary shade Mac, the Macintosh II, developer Raymond Lau wrote a file compression utility referred to as StuffIt, which later turned a commercial app.

Even earlier than StuffIt, there was Packit for the Mac written by Harry Chesley.

Different compression apps quickly adopted, together with the light-weight however quick Compact Pro, and the wonderful SuperDisk! app which allowed you to compress a file or total folder within the Finder just by appending an “.s” to the tip of the filename.

In the present day there are a wide-range of compression apps out there for macOS – a few of them paid merchandise, a few of them free. We’ll check out the perfect ones under.

macOS’s personal built-in compression app, Archive Utility, has been round because the NeXT days in a single type or one other. It’s hidden away in /System/Library/CoreServices/Functions, however normally you will not ever have to open it immediately.

As a substitute to make use of it, choose a file, folder, or group of recordsdata or folders, then Management-click or right-click them in macOS’s Finder. Choose Compress from the popup menu:

Finder will show a progress window and the chosen gadgets will probably be zipped (compressed) in a file named “Archive.zip”.

To decompress an archive, merely double-click it within the Finder. The decompression course of is similar, however in reverse. After every compression or decompression, Archive Utility will give up itself mechanically.

There is a Settings window in Archive Utility, so the primary time you open it immediately, you’ll be able to open the Settings window and set defaults. These embrace:

1. The place to save lots of expanded recordsdata
2. Delete archives after increasing or not
3. Present the place expanded recordsdata are in Finder after they’re decompressed or not
4. “Maintain increasing” archives, in the event that they comprise different archives
5. Which archive format to make use of when compressing recordsdata
6. What to do with unique recordsdata after compressing them

The third choice may be helpful however can be a bit annoying typically: after every archive is expanded, Archive Utility will deliver the Finder to the entrance, and open new window displaying the placement of the expanded recordsdata. If you’re increasing numerous archives, this may get annoying rapidly.

Being a utility with an extended legacy previous within the UNIX world, Archive Utility helps decompression of all kinds of compressed codecs together with:

1. .zip
2. .bzip and bzip2
3. .CPGZ (CPIO – a UNIX format)
4. .gzip (GNU Zip)
5. .tar (consolidated’ UNIX archives)
6. .hqx (Binhex – an previous Mac OS 9 compressed format)
7. .xip (macOS signed archive format)
8. .uu (unencoded compression)
9. .pax
10. .tx (Tar BZip 2 compression)
11. .txz (XZ Compressed Tar)
12. .z (UNIX compressed file
13. .7z (7-Zip compression)

There are a selection of free expander-only utilities for macOS, which decompress a number of file codecs.

The oldest, and doubtless greatest well-known of those once more, is StuffIt Expander from Smith Micro, out there without cost on the Mac App Retailer. There are additionally free variations of Stuffit expander for iOS and for Windows. The iOS model works with cloud suppliers to retailer and retrieve recordsdata.

After Stuffit Expander, the best-known expander for macOS is The Unarchiver from MacPaw, additionally within the Mac App Store. The Unarchiver lets you set, by filename extension, which recordsdata it’ll open and which it won’t open by default if you double-click them within the Finder:

Decompressor from Rocky Sand Studios is one other beloved decompression app and will get rave critiques.

Keka (additionally within the Mac App Retailer) is a pleasant extractor/compressor with a lovable UI and plenty of choices. Dozens of archive codecs are supported and Keka may even create .dmg and .iso recordsdata immediately when archiving.

You’ll be able to set passwords and phase/mix archives, set compression stage and pace, location, and even how Keka makes use of your CPU’s thread scheduling for greatest efficiency.

There may be additionally an optionally available Keka contextual menu for the Finder when Management-clicking gadgets, when you allow it in System Settings. Keka additionally updates the variety of gadgets it’s presently engaged on in its icon within the Finder’s Dock.

The iOS model of Keka is in closing beta and is out there on the App Retailer as a preorder now.

Extractor from FLIPLAB is one other comparable straightforward drag+drop decompressor.

There are dozens of different good expander/decompressor apps within the Mac App Retailer – each paid and free.

A now defunct maker of macOS partitioning software program, Coriolis Systems, has a museum web page the place you’ll be able to obtain their free expander app, Zipster, but it surely hasn’t been up to date since 2014.

One fascinating .zip utility within the Mac App Retailer is ZipMounter Lite from Coral Wu. Utilizing this utility, you’ll be able to mount .zip recordsdata in your desktop as read-only drives as in the event that they have been native drives and drag particular person archive contents out to different volumes or the Desktop.

It additionally provides a small merchandise on the proper aspect of the menubar for an open recents checklist of mounted .zip recordsdata. ZipMounter Lite appears to work simply nice beneath macOS Ventura (13.x) and it is small and fast.

There are additionally a number of on-line expanders and compressors to encode and extract recordsdata. Chief amongst these are:

1. unzip-online.com
2. funzip.internet
3. extract.me
4. convertfiles.com and cloudconvert.com can translate from one archive format to a different

Along with expanders/compressors, there are additionally full-featured compression apps which do compression and extraction, but in addition have full UI which permit extra detailed and complicated manipulation of archive contents reminiscent of including/deleting particular person gadgets, dragging gadgets to and from archive home windows, setting merchandise dates and instances, and different choices.

Sadly, the final full model of the previous standby – StuffIt Deluxe – was discontinued on the market in 2016. You’ll be able to nonetheless obtain an older copy from the updates web page on stuffit.com, however except you have already got an older serial quantity for model 16, you will not be capable of set up it.

Taking Stuffit Deluxe’s place, and with a clear, {smooth} UI is BetterZip 5 ($24.95) from macitbetter written by Robert Rezabek. This full-featured app makes use of doc home windows for archives and you’ll add and take away gadgets to home windows by way of drag and drop. It additionally offers archive merchandise preview in archive home windows, very similar to the Finder does.

In BetterZip’s archive home windows you too can create and take away folders, search, transfer and reorganize recordsdata, and extract and save recordsdata all from home windows’ toolbars. Archive home windows additionally characteristic a filesystem sidebar very similar to Finder home windows do.

BetterZip additionally offers password and file encryption, Finder integration with context menus and toolbar buttons, Share Sheet integration for sending archives to different individuals and apps, and even a helpful Quick Look generator which lets you preview archive contents in the Finder with a faucet of the spacebar.

WinZip ($29.95 with a free 45-day free trial) is one other main full-featured, document-based compression app. Having began life on Home windows, WinZip has the foremost benefit of being totally cross-platform suitable: archives may be opened and manipulated in the identical manner on each macOS and Home windows, and even iOS.

WinZip can create, save, and open a number of archive home windows, the contents of which you’ll manipulate with menus, toolbar buttons, and drag and drop: including, eradicating, reordering, and renaming gadgets, extraction, sharing, cloud companies, and passwords and encryption.

It additionally includes a Finder-like doc sidebar to navigate your Mac’s filesystem, and in-archive photograph manipulation instruments. All-in-all the WinZip Mac consumer expertise is kind of {smooth} and pleasurable.

A 3rd contender is iZip ($34.95). There is a free model which lets you create archives, however not edit their contents. The UI is sweet, however not fairly as {smooth} and straightforward as BetterZip – for instance within the free model, so as to add recordsdata you’ll be able to’t drag recordsdata on to archive home windows. As a substitute you must click on the Add button, after which drag them to a second window that pops up. New archives within the free model are restricted to 1 merchandise till you improve.

The open supply free PeaZip can be helpful and follows the identical windowing mannequin as BetterZip, but it surely seems to be written in QT or Java, and the UI is not fairly as elegant and {smooth}. It additionally would not permit a number of doc home windows without delay – should you create a brand new archive, it takes over the only current window for manipulating archive contents.

PeaZip does supply some distinctive and helpful options reminiscent of bookmarks into filesystems hooked up to your Mac, and window structure customization.

Bandizip ($21.99) from Bandisoft within the Mac App Retailer is one other full-featured window-based archive utility. Whereas near being on par with the opposite document-based compression apps, Bandizip has only a few minor annoyances: including archive gadgets is a three-window course of – clicking the “Add” button in an archive window, leads to a drop-down sheet with settings for every archive merchandise, and yet one more “Add” button.

Whereas full-featured with encryption and sharing options, Finder integration, photograph preview, and 7Zip archive help, it additionally feels a bit janky. It is a nice app, however the UI with its outsized buttons and bland look may use some polish.

Commander One (free trial, $29.95 for PRO model) from Digital Group (previously Ultima Software program) is definitely a multi-feature file and community utility app with an enormous array of options, and zip archive help. Its multi-document window design is just like the apps talked about above, however the UI feels a bit nonstandard, is barely sluggish, and feels a bit clunky.

It does supply just a few fascinating UI options: you’ll be able to click on every of the drives in your Mac within the toolbar on the prime of every window simply to show their file contents. You may as well view by checklist, icon, or Quick Look, and you’ll search each filesystem in your Mac utilizing RegEx sample matching – a characteristic not present in any of the opposite apps.

You’ll be able to create archives of any number of recordsdata or folders in Commander One home windows with a single click on of a toolbar button. Clicking the Connections Supervisor button subsequent to the Archive button reveals the identical cloud connection window as Digital Group’s different nice product, CloudMounter ($9.99 for 3 months):

Clearly of all of the full-featured archive apps, BetterZip 5 is the winner fingers down and is a brand new benchmark, with WinZip an in depth second, and iZip third. The entire apps talked about are good, and regardless of the opposite apps’ few drawbacks, all are helpful.

There are just a few non-document-based paid archive utilities for macOS. The three leaders in easy archive utilities are Archiver 4 from Unbelievable Bee (14-day free trial, $20 after), Remo Zip ($30) from Remo Software program, and A-Zippr (Free trial, $8 for all options) from AppYogi Software. All three are single-window utilities for quick and easy archive creation and compression/growth.

Archiver 4 is easier and simpler: it presents a single utility window on launch into which you drag recordsdata to compress to an archive:

After dropping your recordsdata, click on the Archive button, and you will be requested to pick an archive format: zip, tar, tar, or 7Zip. Clicking the subsequent Archive button creates and compresses the archive.

Archiver 4 is easy and small, however its UI is slick and fluid and it is simple to create archives rapidly. It is solely flaw – as with Bandizip – is barely garish UI parts like outsized minimalist buttons, outsized icons, and barely off visible proportions. However these are mere beauty and visible design flaws.

The UI is snappy and responsive, and Archiver 4 is simple and enjoyable to make use of with a slight Zen-like really feel. Like The Unarchiver, Archiver 4 additionally permits you to set which recordsdata you need it to deal with by file extension.

In Archiver 4 Settings you too can specify the default habits for dropping recordsdata onto the Archiver 4 window: both compression or growth.

Remo Zip is one other drag and drop single-window utility. Specify a file identify and placement, optionally available password, and compression stage, drag recordsdata or folders into its window, and click on Compress. Efficiency is pretty fast and similar to the opposite easy drag and drop compression utilities.

Remo Zip’s UI is a bit clunky and may very well be improved – disproportionate buttons, barely blurry graphics, and several other panes to get by so as to begin compressing. It apparently solely helps two archive codecs throughout compression: Zip and RZip, which oddly, you set if you click on the Specify Identify button.

But it surely works as marketed: compress or open recordsdata to develop.

A-Zippr is a enjoyable little drag and drop archiver/compressor/expander: drop a set of recordsdata or folders onto A-Zippr, set the archive format, password, and compression stage, and you will be prompted immediately for a location to save lots of the archive with an ordinary macOS save panel. Choose a location and click on Give Entry and also you’re off and working.

A-Zippr is buttery-smooth and quick – even on older Macs: compressing typical archives on an inside SSD takes roughly two-thirds the time Apple’s Archive Utility takes. Appyogi has clearly gone to lengths to optimize this app and it reveals.

For $4 extra A-Zippr additionally affords AES-256 file encryption as an add-on. With its quirky, however hip and {smooth} UI A-Zippr is cool.

Apple now offers a development framework for entry to the compression/decompression facets of Archive Utility constructed into macOS and iOS.

Utilizing third occasion apps for archive administration and creation/growth provides you way more choices and simply utilizing Apple’s Archive Utility alone. With these apps you’ll pace up your workflow and do issues with archives your Mac usually cannot do.