Forum Discussion
RAR for mac - Does WinRAR work on mac
- Mar 24, 2025
WinRAR only has a command-line interface for mac so WinRAR does not work well on Mac. You need to go with WinRAR alternative instead.
If you want a no-fuss way to deal with RAR files on macOS, just grab FossZIP, it did everything you need.
See how it works: https://www.osxmac.com/how-to-open-rar-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.