RAR for mac - Does WinRAR work on mac

WinRAR is not work on Mac. While there is a version of WinRAR available for macOS, it is not as commonly used for several reasons:

Native Alternatives: macOS comes with built-in tools for handling ZIP files and other common archive formats, such as the Archive Utility. There are also many native alternatives like The Unarchiver, Keka, and BetterZip that integrate well with the macOS ecosystem and offer user-friendly interfaces.

Limited Features: The macOS version of WinRAR may not offer the same features and functionality as its Windows counterpart. This can make it less appealing for Mac users who want a comprehensive archiving solution.

User Interface: WinRAR's interface is designed primarily for Windows, which might feel less intuitive to Mac users used to a different design philosophy. Other tools might provide a more consistent macOS experience. License and Cost: While WinRAR offers a trial version, it requires a paid license for continued use. Some users prefer free or open-source alternatives available on macOS.

Does WinRAR work on Mac? The answer is clear and not recommended. There are many alternatives out there for opening rar archive on Mac.

I discovered this by mistake. Sometimes the .rar file contains plain text, code, or markdown. You can use the cat command to output it to the screen, and then copy it out and it can be used (of course, this is only an emergency, not a proper decompression method).

bash
cat filename.rar

If you see plain text data (such as JSON, XML, TXT), you can copy it out and save it as a file. Although it is not standard, it is also a trick to solve the problem of temporarily viewing the content of rar for mac.

Of course, this method cannot decompress pictures, audio, video, etc., and it is not a serious decompression method. But if you just want to see if there is any useful information in the .rar file and don’t want to install anything, it can really come in handy.

So if you ask me: Does WinRAR work on Mac? My answer is - although there is no original GUI version of WinRAR, if you want to see the content and get some text, there are actually ways to do it. The key is whether you want to use your brain to toss.

Let me tell you about my search for a rar for mac solution. I had just switched to Mac at that time, and I thought that since the system was pre-installed with Python, maybe I could use it to process RAR files. It turned out that there was a way. Although it was a bit confusing at first, it became smoother later. The key is that you don’t need to install any third-party decompression software with a graphical interface.

✅ The steps are as follows:
Open the terminal and install a Python library called rarfile first (using pip):

bash python3 -m pip install rarfile

Then use a text editor to write a small script, such as unnrar.py:

python import rarfile rf = rarfile.RarFile('your file.rar')

rf.extractall('output directory') # If you don’t write a path, it will default to the current directory
Go back to the terminal and run it:

bash python3 unnrar.py

As ​​long as the path is correct, it can be decompressed in a few seconds.

This method is actually quite suitable for technical people, or those who don’t mind writing a few lines of code. No graphical interface or mouse clicks are needed, the script is run and the whole process is completed in the terminal.

It is also an alternative but pure rar for mac solution - system native tools + Python scripts, clean, no trouble, no worry about advertising plug-ins.

I later found a few ways to get RAR for Mac working without installing third-party tools (of course, the operation is not so intuitive, but it does work), and I share them with you here:

Use macOS's built-in Automator to create a simple decompression service (disguised graphical interface)
This method is cool. It uses Mac's built-in Automator to customize a right-click menu operation to call the unnrar command.

The steps are roughly as follows:

1. Open Automator and choose to create a "Quick Action"
2. Set the accepted file type to "Files and Folders"
3. Add the "Run Shell Script" module to the workflow
4. Fill in the script content similar to:

bash
for f in "$@"
do
/usr/local/bin/unnrar x "$f" "${f%.*}"

    Save as "Unzip RAR"

Then when you right-click any .rar file, you can see your customized service. Click it to automatically decompress it to the same directory, which is equivalent to making a simple interface for "rar for mac".

Even if you don't want to install a third-party graphical tool, there are still many "roundabout ways" to solve the problem of Does WinRAR work on Mac.

WinRAR does not work on macOS as it is a Windows-specific application. However, RARLAB, the company behind WinRAR, does provide a command-line version of RAR that is compatible with macOS. This version allows you to create and extract RAR files using the Terminal.

To use RAR for macOS:

1. Install: Once downloaded, you may need to extract the files and place them in a directory that is easily accessible (like /usr/local/bin), or you can simply run commands from the directory where you extracted the files.

2. Using Terminal: Open the Terminal and navigate to the directory where the RAR files are located. You can use commands like:

rar a archive.rar files to create a RAR archive.
rar x archive.rar to extract a RAR archive.

If you prefer a graphical user interface (GUI) instead of using the command line, you might want to consider third-party applications like The Unarchiver or Keka, which offer a user-friendly experience for managing RAR files on macOS.

When I first switched to Mac, I was confused and wanted to decompress a .rar file, but I found that it couldn't be opened by double-clicking, and the system's built-in archive utility didn't recognize this format. Then I started to study whether "rar for mac" could be used. A search on the Internet recommended a lot of third-party software, but I was stubborn and had to see if there was any way to avoid those things first.

Method 1: Command line version of WinRAR
I later found something on the WinRAR official website, called "rar for mac", but when you click on it, you will find that it is not the familiar WinRAR with an interface, but a command line version with only two files: rar and unnrar.

I did it according to the official instructions:

Drag unnrar into /usr/local/bin, or put it on the desktop for testing.

Open the terminal and cd to the directory of the .rar file

Then enter a line of command:

nginx unnrar x test.rar

The result is that it can really be decompressed, and it's pretty fast!

Although it is not a graphical interface operation, it is not difficult for people like me who usually use the terminal. The key is that this is an "official product" and I feel more assured.

At this time, I began to doubt my life again: Does WinRAR work on Mac? It turns out that it really works, but the method is different. It is too different from the right-click one-key decompression on Windows, but it does work.

Method 2: Try the system's built-in tar command
Then I also tried another unpopular method. I don't know which blog mentioned it, saying that some .rar files are actually packaged with tar and can be directly decompressed with macOS's tar.

I tried it, and sometimes it really works:

nginx tar -xvf example.rar

It will directly list the files inside and decompress them, but it can only process very "standard" .rar files, such as those with sub-volumes and encryption, which will generally report errors or fail to decompress anything.

Although the success rate is not high, it is also one of the "built-in methods", suitable for when you are too lazy to download things and need to open files temporarily.

In short, although rar for mac is not as easy to use as on Windows, it can still be solved as long as you are willing to work hard. You want to ask me Does WinRAR work on Mac? My answer is: it can be used, but not in the way you think 😂. You have to install the command line version yourself, and then do some manual work to get these compressed files. Who makes Mac not naturally support rar format~

Does winrar work on Mac? You're correct that the official version of WinRAR for Mac is a command-line tool, which can be less convenient than the graphical interface you are used to on Windows. If you prefer a GUI for compressing and decompressing files, there are several alternatives available for Mac that can handle RAR files and provide a more user-friendly experience.

1. The Unarchiver: 
A free and highly recommended app for extracting various archive formats, including RAR. It integrates well with Finder, allowing you to right-click on RAR files and choose to extract them.

2. Keka:
Another excellent archiving tool for Mac. It supports many formats, including RAR, and has a simple drag-and-drop interface. You can also set it as the default app for handling archives.

3. iZip:
A free app that allows you to create and extract various archive formats. It also integrates with Finder for a smoother experience.

To install any of these apps, you can typically download them from the Mac App Store or the developer's website. Once installed, you can right-click on RAR files and choose to extract them using the tool of your choice.