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How to unzip and zip files in the Mac Terminal
Use
unzip archive.zip to extract. Use ditto to keep Mac metadata. Updated
Key facts
- Works on
- macOS 14 Sonoma or later
- Built-in
- unzip, ditto, tar
How to do it with built-in macOS tools
Paragraph with ⌘Space and formats and tar.gz guide.
unzip archive.zip -d archivezip -r -X archive.zip folder -x "*.DS_Store"
ls -la-
Open Terminal
Press ⌘Space, type Terminal.
-
Run the command
Type
unzip.
Table
| Command | Does |
|---|---|
unzip -l | Lists |
- One
- Two
- First
- Second
| Feature | Madghoot | Keka Mac App Store | Archive Utility built in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free download, 14-day free trial, then $1.99 once (lifetime). No subscription, no ads | $6.49 on the Mac App Store; free from keka.io (optional tip-jar purchases) | Free, built in |
| Creates 7Z | Yes | Yes | No |
| Opens RAR | Yes | Partly note | No |
Keka is a trademark or product name of its owner. Archive Utility is part of macOS, by Apple Inc. Madghoot is an independent app and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any of them.
| Format | Open & extract | Create | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
RAR4 / RAR5 (unencrypted, dictionary up to 64 MB) .rar | Yes | No | |
RAR encrypted, header-encrypted, large-dictionary, RAR7 .rar | Yes | No | Password-protected RAR (including encrypted file names), dictionaries over 64 MB and RAR7, opened with the bundled 7-Zip engine. |
RAR multi-part (.partN.rar, .rar + .r00) .part1.rar.r00 | Yes | No | Madghoot asks once for access to the folder so it can find the other parts. |
7-Zip is a trademark or product name of its owner. Archive Utility is part of macOS, by Apple Inc. Madghoot is an independent app and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any of them.