Look, we've all been there. You download a file you desperately need—maybe it’s a massive set of design assets or a high-res video project—and instead of a nice, friendly ZIP, you see that .rar extension staring back at you. If you’re on a Mac, your first instinct is probably to double-click it.
And then... nothing.
Apple's Archive Utility is great for ZIP files. It's built right into the system. But for reasons best known to the folks in Cupertino, macOS still doesn't have native, out-of-the-box support for the Roshal Archive format. It’s annoying. It feels like a relic from the early 2000s, yet RAR files are everywhere because they generally offer better compression than ZIPs.
You aren't stuck. Honestly, figuring out how to open rar files on mac os x is one of those "five-minute fixes" that stays fixed forever once you pick the right tool.
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Why macOS hates your RAR files
The reality is a bit technical but basically comes down to licensing. ZIP is an open format. RAR, created by Eugene Roshal (hence the name), is proprietary. While anybody can write a program to unrar something, the actual compression algorithm is guarded. Apple just hasn't bothered to bake the extraction license into the OS.
It’s a gap in the ecosystem.
Windows users have WinRAR, which is famous for that "infinite free trial" that never actually expires. Mac users have to be a bit more intentional. If you try to open a RAR file using the default system tools, you'll likely get a vague error message saying the format isn't supported, or worse, it’ll just try to open it in TextEdit and show you a screen full of gibberish.
The "Gold Standard" for Mac: The Unarchiver
If you want the easiest path, just go to the Mac App Store and grab The Unarchiver. It's free. It’s been around since basically the dawn of OS X.
I’ve used this on every Mac I’ve owned for the last decade. It’s tiny. It’s lightweight. Once you install it, you basically forget it exists because it integrates so seamlessly.
When you first open it, you’ll see a giant list of file formats. Select "RAR Archive" (and honestly, just select everything else while you’re at it, like 7-Zip and SitX). From that point on, when you double-click a RAR file, The Unarchiver takes over. It extracts the files into a folder in the same directory and then quits. No pop-ups. No "buy me" notifications. It just works.
Why people swear by it
It handles foreign character sets. If you’ve ever downloaded a file with a name written in Japanese or Cyrillic and had it turn into a mess of underscores, The Unarchiver fixes that. It detects the encoding automatically. That's a huge deal if you're dealing with international clients or assets.
Keka: For the power users among us
Maybe you want more control. Maybe you don’t just want to open files; you want to make them. If that's the case, Keka is the way to go.
Keka is an open-source powerhouse. It’s "pay what you want" on their website, though they charge a few bucks on the App Store to support development. It uses the 7-zip engine but handles RAR extraction flawlessly.
One cool thing about Keka is the "drop window." You can keep a little icon on your desktop or in your dock, and you just drag the RAR file onto it. Boom. Extracted. You can even set it to delete the original RAR file after it’s done, which saves you the manual cleanup. It’s those little workflow tweaks that make it feel more "Pro" than the standard options.
Compression matters too
Unlike The Unarchiver, Keka lets you create compressed files in various formats. You can’t create a RAR file with it (almost nothing on Mac can, because of that pesky license), but you can create 7-Zip files, which are arguably better anyway.
Using the Terminal (The "I'm a Hacker" Method)
Some people hate installing third-party apps. I get it. If you’re comfortable with the command line, you can handle how to open rar files on mac os x using Homebrew.
First, you’d need Homebrew installed. If you don't have it, it's the package manager for macOS that every dev uses. You open Terminal and type:
brew install unrar
Once that's done, navigating to your file is easy. You just type unrar x filename.rar. The 'x' stands for extract with full paths. It’s fast. It’s efficient. It feels very "Matrix."
But honestly? Most people shouldn't do this. If you mess up the path or have a multi-part RAR file, it gets messy quickly. Save the Terminal for when you're feeling adventurous or if you're automating tasks with scripts.
Dealing with multi-part RAR files
This is where things usually break. You download something and see part1.rar, part2.rar, and so on.
Don't panic.
You don't need to extract them all individually. In fact, if you try that, it won't work. You just need to make sure all the parts are in the same folder. Then, you only double-click the first one. The software (The Unarchiver or Keka) is smart enough to see the other parts and stitch them together into one seamless file.
If one part is missing or renamed slightly differently, the whole thing fails. Make sure the filenames are identical except for the "partX" bit.
What about password-protected files?
RAR files are often used to hide things behind passwords. When you try to open one of these on Mac, a little dialog box will pop up.
A word of advice: if you got the RAR from a sketchy site and it's asking for a password, be careful. But if it's a legitimate file from a colleague, just type the password into the prompt provided by your extraction tool. Both Keka and The Unarchiver handle encrypted RARs perfectly.
Browser-based extractors: Avoid them if you can
You’ll see sites like "Extract.me" or "B1 Online Archive."
They work in a pinch. You upload the file, they unzip it, and you download the contents. But think about that for a second. You’re uploading your data to a random server. If it’s a sensitive document or a private photo, that’s a massive security risk. Plus, if the file is 2GB, you’re waiting for it to upload and then waiting to download it again.
Just install a local app. It’s safer, faster, and doesn't rely on your internet connection.
Why 7-Zip is the secret winner
While you’re looking into how to open rar files on mac os x, you’ll likely run into .7z files too.
7-Zip is the open-source competitor to RAR. It’s actually more efficient. If you’re the one sending files, consider using 7-Zip instead of RAR. Your Mac-using friends will thank you because 7-Zip is much easier to handle with free tools, and it doesn't carry the proprietary baggage that RAR does.
Real-world troubleshooting
Sometimes a RAR file just won't open. You get a "Checksum Error" or "Archive Corrupt" message.
Usually, this means the download didn't finish properly. RAR files are very sensitive to "bit rot" or interrupted downloads. Try downloading the file again. If it still fails, the person who made the RAR might have used a version of WinRAR that's too new for your older software—though this is rare these days.
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Another tip: check your disk space. RAR files often contain huge folders. If you have 1GB of space left and try to extract a 2GB RAR, macOS will just throw a fit without always telling you exactly why.
Actionable Next Steps
To get those files open right now and never worry about this again, follow this sequence:
- Download The Unarchiver from the Mac App Store. It is the most "set it and forget it" solution available.
- Open the app once after installing to ensure the
.rarextension is checked in the "Archive Formats" tab. - Move all parts of a multi-part archive into a single folder before you attempt to open them.
- Right-click a RAR file and select "Get Info." Under "Open with," choose The Unarchiver and click "Change All." Now, every RAR you ever download will open with a simple double-click, just like a ZIP file.
Stop fighting with the default Apple tools. They aren't going to help you here. Spend sixty seconds installing a dedicated extractor and you’ll never see that "format not supported" error again.