Opening and creating 7z files on a Mac computer

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Updated on: April 18, 2024
Time to read: 5 minutes
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Ever since computers became a standard item in any household, people have been looking to shrink the size of their files since storage was a luxury. Today we know how to unzip 7z files on Mac in a matter of seconds with the right tool.

Our choice is Commander One, and you’ll find out why from the paragraphs below. But, first, let’s go through the basics about creating and opening .7z files on Mac computers.

Table of Contents:

How to open 7z file on Mac

Similar to the Windows operating system, you will find that Mac doesn’t offer a built-in tool to open 7z archive format. That is why you will have to learn how to open a 7z file on Mac with a dedicated archive utility, and there are plenty available on the internet.

Now, you must be careful when installing any new software, as not all of them will meet your expectations when opening 7z files. So, we figured we could do some research for you as a favor, and we narrowed it down to three top candidates you should take into consideration.

How to create 7z file on Mac

Creating a .7z file on Mac has never been easier. Let’s go through the main steps:

  1. Open the folder that contains your files, right-click anywhere inside it and select New-> Compressed Folder and just type a name for your archive.
  2. Double-click and open your new archive, then just drag & drop all the files inside. Congrats, you have successfully created a 7-zip for Mac.

The most popular third-party apps for working with 7z files on Mac

Commander One

It is one of the best Apple file managers out there, being written 100% in Swift. A fact worth mentioning is that it’s compatible with Apple M1/M2-powered Macs. So if you’re looking for how to unzip 7z files on Mac, give it a try.

Commander One - archiver

Pros

  • customizable hotkeys;
  • unlimited tabs;
  • fine-tuned file operations queue system;
  • can work with cloud storage and remote servers.

Cons

  • a bit boring interface (but nothing you can’t fix with 5 minutes of customizing).
How to create and open 7zip archive on a Mac

Keka

Another excellent Mac 7z extractor is Keka, a perfectly suitable macOS file archiver. An exciting feature about this Mac.7z extractor is that you don’t even have to open it to archive a file. Instead, just use the Dock icon, where you can drag and drop the files. It also has a built-in feature that allows you to protect your archives with a password. Thus, ensuring that only authorized people know how to extract 7z files on Mac from your library. Set a password and safely share your documents.

Keka

Pros

  • archive password protection;
  • the application allows user to delete files in the archive;

Cons

  • inability to see the files’ names within an archive before extracting.

The Unarchiver

Opening 7z on Mac is a piece of cake when you have professional tools such as The Unarchiver, which users claim to be much faster than the MacOS native utility. It supports a broader selection of archive formats. The 7z opener for Mac supports all types of characters, so you are not limited to Latin characters anymore.

The Unarchiver

Pros

  • easy installation;
  • supports the wide variaty of archive formats.
  • absolutely free.

Cons

  • lack of a good QuickLook plugin.

What is 7z file?

If you see a file with the .7z extension, it means that it’s in a compressed/archive format. It’s the latest compression file format, and it is known for providing high-level compression. Since it’s a part of the 7-Zip open-source software, so is the 7z extension, and that means that you don’t need to buy it in order to use it.

Conclusion

As you can well see, it’s not a difficult or scary task to manage your 7z archives. In fact, you even have multiple solutions to open 7z files on Mac whenever it’s necessary. The possibility of using quality open-source utilities such as the ones we discussed above is something that each and every one of us should appreciate.

We hope this guide was helpful and you have a better idea about opening .7z files on Mac. And just in case you have any unanswered questions, check out the FAQ below!

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, it can be used on a Mac. All you need is a reliable tool such as the ones that we covered earlier.

Locate the respective file, right-click on it, select „Open With”, then click on your favorite archive utility software in the menu.

Because Mac doesn’t offer any built-in archive utility software, you will have to use a dedicated tool such as Keka, Commander One, or The Unarchiver. The good news is they are all free to use!