Softtote Data Recovery for Mac is a comprehensive Mac data recovery software to recover Mac data lost due to accidental deleting, formatting, virus infection, improper operation, unexpected power failure, and other unknown reasons. The Mac OS also comes with its own built-in compression system that can zip and unzip files. This built-in system is fairly basic, which is why so many third-party apps are also available. A quick look at the Mac App Store revealed over 50 apps for zipping and unzipping files. Express Zip lets you quickly and easily compress files and folders into.zip files or unzip/extract and open.rar,.zip,.7z and many other file types for free.
Files you download from the Internet are often compressed or zipped so that they take up less space and arrive much faster than files that haven’t been compressed. You can easily identify compressed files by their extensions, such as .zip (a common standard used in OS X and Windows) and .sit. Before you can use these files, you must learn how to unzip files on mac computers for proper access – luckily the process isn’t that complicated!
How to unzip files on mac computers
Unzipping a file on a mac computer is user-friendly and intuitive. To unzip files on a mac, simply follow the steps below:
- Double click the zipped file.
- The file will automatically be decompressed by Archive Utility into the same folder the compressed file is in.
- Access the extracted files by clicking the appropriate icons.
Alternatively, if the method above does not work, you can right-click on the .zip package, and select Open With > Archive Utility (default).
Apple and third party software
Apple used to include a program called StuffIt Expander to decompress zipped files, but doesn’t now that OS X lets you unzip files (but not .sit files). However, StuffIt from SmithMicro Software still comes in handy for opening other types of compressed files, notably the .sit or .sitx compressed types. Go to www.stuffit-expander.com or www.stuffit.com/mac/index.html to download a free version of the software or to splurge for the Deluxe version. In addition to compressing files, StuffIt Deluxe lets you encrypt and back up files.
Meanwhile, you can archive or create your own .zip files through OS X, which is useful if you’re e-mailing a number of meaty files to a friend. Right-click (or Ctrl-click) files you want to compress inside Finder and choose Compress Filename. The newly compressed files carry the .zip extension. The archive is created in the same location as the original file and is named originalfilename.zip. You can also choose File→Compress. If you compress a lot of files at once, the archive takes the name Archive.zip.
By default, compressed files are opened with the Archive Utility. It appears in the Dock (in Leopard) while the files are being unsqueezed, unless you choose to open them with Stuffit Expander or some other program.
How to zip files on a mac
On the flip side, you can also archive or create your own .zip files through OS X, which is useful if you’re e-mailing a number of meaty files to a client or friend. Follow the step-by-step instructions below to easily zip files on a mac:
- Right-click or Ctrl-click the multiple files you want to compress (whether on the desktop or inside the Finder).
- Select Compress Filename from the pop-up menu.
- The files are now compressed in a .zip extension and the archive is created in the same location as the original file name, except with the .zip appended to its name.
On some Apple computers, you can also compress a file by simply choosing File→Compress. If you compress a lot of files at once, the archive takes the name Archive.zip.
7-Zip is a file archiver with a high compression ratio.
Download 7-Zip 19.00 (2019-02-21) for Windows:
| Link | Type | Windows | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Download | .exe | 32-bit x86 | 1 MB |
| Download | .exe | 64-bit x64 | 1 MB |
License
7-Zip is free software with open source. The most of the code is under the GNU LGPL license. Some parts of the code are under the BSD 3-clause License. Also there is unRAR license restriction for some parts of the code. Read 7-Zip License information.
You can use 7-Zip on any computer, including a computer in a commercial organization. You don't need to register or pay for 7-Zip.
The main features of 7-Zip
- High compression ratio in 7z format with LZMA and LZMA2 compression
- Supported formats:
- Packing / unpacking: 7z, XZ, BZIP2, GZIP, TAR, ZIP and WIM
- Unpacking only: AR, ARJ, CAB, CHM, CPIO, CramFS, DMG, EXT, FAT, GPT, HFS, IHEX, ISO, LZH, LZMA, MBR, MSI, NSIS, NTFS, QCOW2, RAR, RPM, SquashFS, UDF, UEFI, VDI, VHD, VMDK, WIM, XAR and Z.
- For ZIP and GZIP formats, 7-Zip provides a compression ratio that is 2-10 % better than the ratio provided by PKZip and WinZip
- Strong AES-256 encryption in 7z and ZIP formats
- Self-extracting capability for 7z format
- Integration with Windows Shell
- Powerful File Manager
- Powerful command line version
- Plugin for FAR Manager
- Localizations for 87 languages
7-Zip works in Windows 10 / 8 / 7 / Vista / XP / 2016 / 2012 / 2008 / 2003 / 2000 / NT.
p7zip - the port of the command line version of 7-Zip to Linux/Posix.
Best Compression Program For Mac
On 7-Zip's SourceForge Page you can find a forum, bug reports, and feature request systems.
Compression ratio
We compared 7-Zip with WinRAR 5.20.
Free Unzipping Program For Mac
FILE SETS: Mozilla Firefox 34.0.5 for Windows and Google Earth 6.2.2.6613 for Windows.
| Archiver | Mozilla Firefox | Google Earth | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 65 files 85 280 391 bytes |
483 files 110 700 519 bytes |
|||
| Compressed size | Ratio | Compressed size | Ratio | |
| 7-Zip 9.35 -mx |
39 357 375 | 100% | 15 964 369 | 100% |
| WinRAR 5.20 -m5 -s -ma5 -md128m |
41 789 543 | 106% | 17 035 432 | 107% |
Winzip Program For Mac
Compression ratio results are very dependent upon the data used for the tests. Usually, 7-Zip compresses to 7z format 30-70% better than to zip format. And 7-Zip compresses to zip format 2-10% better than most of other zip compatible programs.