Free, open-source native macOS archive tool for creating and extracting ZIP, 7Z and TAR files, with RAR extraction, encryption and Finder integration.
804SwiftMITUpdated 18 days ago
sarensw/MacPacker
A native macOS archive manager that browses, previews and extracts 40+ archive formats, including nested archives, without full extraction.
Open-source alternative to:WinZip
The Unarchiver
- Stars
- 1,308
- Forks
- 66
- Open issues
- 69
- Last commit
- yesterday
What is it?
MacPacker is a free, open source archive manager for macOS, built natively as a Mac alternative to 7-Zip. It opens more than 40 archive, disk image, and compression formats, including ZIP, RAR, 7z, TAR variants, DMG, ISO and VHDX. Formats are recognized by their magic number rather than only by file extension.
Instead of extracting everything first, you can browse the full contents of an archive, drill into archives nested inside other archives, and drag out only the files you need. Quick Look previews work from Finder with the spacebar, and a Finder extension lets you extract an archive from the right-click menu. Password-protected and encrypted archives can be opened.
ZIP archives can be edited and re-saved in place. Deleting entries and creating archives are listed on the roadmap as upcoming work. The app requires macOS 14.6 or later and is available through Homebrew, direct download, and the Mac App Store.
Key features
- 01Browse archive contents without extracting them
- 02Open nested archives directly without intermediate extraction
- 03Drag and drop individual files out of an archive
- 04Preview archives with Quick Look and extract from Finder's right-click menu
- 05Edit and re-save ZIP archives
- 06Open encrypted and password-protected archives
Use cases
- Pulling a single config file out of a large archive without extracting the whole thing
- Inspecting the contents of a downloaded package or disk image before installing
- Digging through archives nested inside other archives
- Replacing 7-Zip or The Unarchiver for everyday extraction on a Mac
Quick start
- 1
Install via Homebrew
brew install --cask macpacker - 2
Or download the .dmg or .zip from macpacker.app or GitHub Releases and move the app to Applications
- 3
Build from source: clone the repository with submodules
git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/sarensw/MacPacker.git - 4
Open the project in Xcode and press Cmd + R to run
open MacPacker.xcodeproj
Things to know
- Requires macOS 14.6 or later.
- Editing and re-saving is only supported for ZIP archives.
- The project says it is still in early development with breaking changes ahead.
- Licensed under GPL-3.0, which requires derivative works to remain open source.
Topics
FAQ
- What is MacPacker?
- A native macOS archive manager that browses, previews and extracts 40+ archive formats, including nested archives, without full extraction. MacPacker is a free, open source archive manager for macOS, built natively as a Mac alternative to 7-Zip. It opens more than 40 archive, disk image, and compression formats, including ZIP, RAR, 7z, TAR variants, DMG, ISO and VHDX. Formats are recognized by their magic number rather than only by file extension.
- Is MacPacker free to use? What license does it have?
- MacPacker is open source under the GPL-3.0 license. Check the license terms before using it in commercial products.
- Is MacPacker still maintained?
- Actively maintained. The last commit to MacPacker was on Oct 19, 2026.
- What can I use MacPacker for?
- Pulling a single config file out of a large archive without extracting the whole thing Inspecting the contents of a downloaded package or disk image before installing Digging through archives nested inside other archives Replacing 7-Zip or The Unarchiver for everyday extraction on a Mac
- How do I install MacPacker?
- Install via Homebrew: brew install --cask macpacker Or download the .dmg or .zip from macpacker.app or GitHub Releases and move the app to Applications Build from source: clone the repository with submodules: git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/sarensw/MacPacker.git Open the project in Xcode and press Cmd + R to run: open MacPacker.xcodeproj
- Where can I get MacPacker?
- The source code and installation instructions are on GitHub: https://github.com/sarensw/MacPacker
Summary generated by AI from the project's README. GitHub stats refresh daily.
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