How can I open 7-zip file on macOS?

I ran into the same thing after moving to macOS, and I just use DrZIP now—it opens 7z files easily and even lets me compress back into .7z, super simple to use.

If you only occasionally decompress a .7z file and don't want to install software, you can also use online tools:

1. Supports dozens of formats such as .7z, .rar, .zip, etc.
2. Drag it in to decompress and automatically download the content;
3. For security reasons, it is recommended not to upload sensitive files.

Although the upload speed is affected by the network speed, this method can also open 7-Zip files on macOS, which is suitable for occasional use or quick processing of small files.

The Unarchiver is indeed a great tool for opening 7-Zip files on macOS. But it doesn’t let you create or compress files into the 7z format. If you need to pack files into a 7z archive, you’ll have to use a different app, like Keka or B1 Free Archiver. It might be a little annoying if you're looking for an all-in-one solution. Sometimes, The Unarchiver doesn't automatically take over as the default app for various archive formats, even if you set it. You might find yourself still double-clicking files and getting the macOS built-in tool instead, which can just dive you into frustration if it doesn’t handle certain formats well.

In my experience, about opening 7-Zip files on macOS, there can be tricky situations with really large or complex archives. Sometimes, if the 7z file is packed with lots of layers (think a million sub-folders), The Unarchiver can lag a bit or even have trouble extracting everything smoothly. You might end up with some missing files or strange folder structures.

While The Unarchiver app is a popular and user-friendly app for extracting 7-Zip archives on macOS, there are some reasons why you might want to avoid using it for 7-Zip (.7z) files in certain cases.

1. Limited Support for Advanced 7-Zip Features
 No support for some 7-Zip compression methods: The Unarchiver may struggle with .7z files using LZMA2, BZip2, or PPMd compression. Some archives might fail to extract or produce errors.

No encryption (AES-256) support: If the .7z file is password-protected, The Unarchiver might not handle it properly.

2. No Ability to Create .7z Files

The Unarchiver is only an extractor—it cannot create .7z archives. If you need to compress files into .7z, you’ll need another tool (like fosszip).

3. Slower Performance on Large Archives

The Unarchiver is optimized for simplicity, not speed. For very large .7z files, dedicated tools like Keka or the command-line p7zip may be faster.

4. No Split Archive Support 

Some .7z files are split into multiple parts (e.g., archive.7z.001, archive.7z.002). The Unarchiver does not automatically combine them.

Based on the above facts, please don't use this app to open 7-zip file on macOS. There are many better apps out there!

If you like to do things by yourself and like a simple and straightforward way, using the command line method to open 7-Zip files on mac is also a very good choice. I usually use it in the terminal very easily.

✅ Install p7zip (the command line version of 7-Zip)
On macOS, you can install it with Homebrew:

bash

brew install p7zip

After this tool is installed, you can use the 7z command directly in the terminal to process compressed files.

✅ Unzip .7z files:

bash

7z x yourfile.7z

This command will unzip the yourfile.7z file in the current directory to the current folder, which is suitable for quickly opening 7-Zip files on macOS without any graphical interface operations.

✅ Compress to .7z file:

bash
7z a archive.7z folder_or_file

For example, if you want to compress a folder called "Project" into archive.7z, just use this command to get it done, which is very efficient.

If you often deal with a large number of compressed files or like to use scripts to automate operations, using the command line method to open 7-Zip files on macOS is a fast and worry-free way, especially for developers or friends who are familiar with Terminal.

The Unarchiver is one of my most frequently used tools on Mac. It is specially used to open 7-Zip files on macOS. It is very simple and easy to use.

You just need to download The Unarchiver from the Mac App Store, open it after installation, and check the supported formats (remember to check .7z as well). After that, you only need to double-click the .7z file and it will automatically unzip it without any additional operations. The whole process is very smooth, unlike some tools that require dragging and dropping.

If you just want to open 7-Zip files on macOS, and don’t want to mess with the command line or download too much software, The Unarchiver is really the easiest choice.

The free command line tool p7zip, which is a command-line port of the 7-Zip file archiver for Unix-like systems, including macOS and Linux. It provides high compression ratios (especially using the .7z format) and supports many archive formats.

Key Features of p7zip

1. Support Multiple Formats: .7z, .zip, .rar, .tar, .gz, .bz2, .xz, and more.
2. High Compression Ratio: The LZMA and LZMA2 algorithms (used in .7z) often outperform .zip in compression efficiency.
3. Command-Line Based: Works in Terminal, making it ideal for scripting and automation.
4. Open-Source & Free: Licensed under the GNU LGPL, so it’s free to use and modify.

You can now use the following command to open 7-zip file on mac:

7z x filename.7z

Using p7zip in Terminal is a powerful way to handle .7z files, especially for automation or scripting. If you prefer a GUI, FossZip is much more simpler alternative.