How to Open RAR Files on Mac (5 Methods, Free)

Why your Mac cannot open RAR files

If you double-click a .rar file on a Mac, one of two things happens: either nothing at all, or a dialog saying the file cannot be opened. This is not a bug or a permissions issue. It is by design.

macOS Archive Utility, the built-in tool Apple ships with every Mac, supports ZIP, tar, gzip, bzip2, and a handful of other open formats. RAR is not one of them. RAR is a proprietary compression format created and owned by RARLAB, the company behind WinRAR. Because the format is proprietary, Apple would need to license it to include support in macOS. They have not done so, and probably never will.

This has been the situation since the earliest versions of macOS X. Unlike Windows, which got WinRAR widely installed over decades, macOS users typically encounter RAR only when they receive a file from someone on Windows or download something from the web that was compressed with WinRAR.

RAR4 vs RAR5: does it matter?

RAR has two major versions in common use. RAR4 is the older format created before WinRAR 5.0. RAR5 is the current format, introduced in 2013, with better compression and stronger encryption. Most files you download today are RAR5, but older archives may still be RAR4. The distinction matters because some tools only support one version. The methods described in this guide, including The Unarchiver, Keka, and SammaPix, all support both RAR4 and RAR5.

What about .zip files on Mac?

ZIP files are a completely different story. macOS handles ZIP natively: double-click, and Archive Utility extracts it instantly. If the person who sent you the file could use ZIP instead of RAR, that would save everyone the trouble. But if you received a .rar file, you need one of the methods below.

5 methods compared: which one is right for you?

Here is an honest breakdown of every practical method to open RAR on Mac in 2026. Read the table first, then jump to the section for your preferred method.

The short version: if you open RAR files regularly, install The Unarchiver once and forget about it. If you only need to open one RAR file right now and do not want to install anything, use SammaPix in your browser.

Method 1: The Unarchiver (best all-rounder)

The Unarchiver is the most popular free RAR extractor for Mac, with over 10 million downloads. It is available on the Mac App Store for free with no paid tiers and no ads. Once installed, it integrates seamlessly with macOS: double-clicking any .rar file will automatically open it with The Unarchiver, just like ZIP files work natively.

Step-by-step: install and use The Unarchiver

1. Open the Mac App Store. Search for "The Unarchiver" or go directly to the link above. Click Get.
2. Set as default. When you first launch The Unarchiver, it will ask which file types it should handle. Check RAR and any other formats you want. Click Associate.
3. Double-click your RAR file. It will extract immediately to the same folder. The Unarchiver prompts for a password if the archive is encrypted.
4. Done. The extracted folder appears next to the .rar file. That is the entire workflow.

The Unarchiver also handles 7z, tar.gz, tar.bz2, cab, lzh, and dozens of other archive formats, including some very old formats you might encounter when accessing legacy archives. It is genuinely one of the most useful free utilities available for Mac.

Limitations

• Extraction only: The Unarchiver cannot create archives. It is a one-way tool.
• No preview: You cannot browse the archive contents before extracting. Everything extracts to disk immediately.
• Requires installation: If you are on a managed Mac (work or school) where you cannot install apps, you will need the browser method instead.

Method 2: Keka (power users and archive creation)

Keka is a more fully-featured archiving app for Mac. Unlike The Unarchiver, Keka can both create and extract archives. If you need to compress files into 7z or ZIP archives as well as extract RAR, Keka is the better choice. It is free on the Keka website and $3.99 on the Mac App Store (the paid version supports the developer).

Step-by-step: open a RAR file with Keka

1. Download Keka from keka.io (or the App Store). Open the .dmg and drag Keka to Applications.
2. Open System Settings. Go to General > Default applications and set Keka as the default for archive files if desired.
3. Drag your .rar file onto the Keka icon in the Dock (or in the Keka window). Keka will extract it immediately.
4. Alternatively, right-click your .rar file and select Open With > Keka.

Keka supports creating 7z, ZIP, tar.gz, tar.bz2, and tar.xz archives. If someone sends you a RAR file and you want to re-share the contents in a universally-supported format, you can extract with Keka and then re-compress as ZIP in the same app.

Method 3: SammaPix online (no installation, ideal for one-time use)

If you received a single RAR file and you have no intention of opening RAR files regularly, installing an app just for this feels excessive. The SammaPix RAR Opener solves this exactly: open your browser, drop the file, extract what you need, close the tab. No installation, no account, no email address.

How it works technically (the privacy part)

SammaPix uses WebAssembly to run the UnRAR library directly in your browser. The .rar file you drop is read by JavaScript running locally on your Mac. It is never sent to any server, never stored, and never visible to SammaPix. This matters because many popular "online RAR extractors" upload your file to their servers for processing, which is a significant privacy risk for sensitive documents, contracts, or personal photos.

Step-by-step: open a RAR file with SammaPix

1. Go to sammapix.com/tools/unrar in Safari or Chrome on your Mac.
2. Drag and drop your .rar file onto the page, or click to browse for it.
3. Enter password if needed. If the archive is password-protected, a field will appear automatically.
4. Browse the file list. You will see all files inside the archive with their names and sizes.
5. Download what you need. Click individual files to download them, or click "Download all as ZIP" to get everything at once.

The free plan handles archives up to 200 MB, which covers the vast majority of RAR files. If you work with very large archives, the Pro plan removes the size limit.

When SammaPix is not the right choice

• Multi-volume archives: .part1.rar, .part2.rar style archives are not supported by the browser tool. Use The Unarchiver or Keka instead.
• Very large files (>200 MB on free plan): Extracting large archives in-browser can also be slower than a native app.
• Regular use: If you open RAR files every week, installing The Unarchiver makes the workflow faster.

Method 4: Terminal with unar (for developers and command-line users)

If you prefer the command line, the unar command from Homebrew is an excellent option. It supports RAR4, RAR5, password protection, and many other archive formats. It is the same extraction engine that powers The Unarchiver.

Install unar via Homebrew

If you do not have Homebrew installed, get it first from brew.sh. Then run:

brew install unar

Common unar commands

# Extract a RAR file
unar archive.rar

# Extract to a specific folder
unar -o ~/Desktop/extracted archive.rar

# Extract password-protected RAR
unar -password YOURPASSWORD archive.rar

# List contents without extracting
lsar archive.rar

The lsar command is particularly useful when you want to check what is inside a RAR file before committing to a full extraction.

The Terminal method is ideal for batch processing. If you have a folder full of .rar files to extract, you can script this with a simple loop:

for f in *.rar; do unar "$f"; done

Method 5: Archive Utility (the built-in tool that does not work for RAR)

This section exists because many guides list Archive Utility as an option. It is not. Archive Utility is the app macOS uses when you double-click a .zip file. It lives at /System/Library/CoreServices/Applications/Archive Utility.app.

If you try to open a .rar file with Archive Utility, you will get an error saying the archive is corrupt or in an unsupported format. The file is not corrupt. Archive Utility simply does not know what to do with RAR. This is the most common point of confusion for Mac users who encounter a RAR file for the first time.

Supported by Archive Utility: .zip, .tar, .tar.gz / .tgz, .tar.bz2, .tar.xz, .gz, .bz2. Not supported: .rar, .7z, .cab, .ace, and most other third-party formats.

How to open a password-protected RAR file on Mac

All the methods above support password-protected RAR archives. Here is what happens with each:

The Unarchiver

A dialog will appear asking for the password. Enter it and click OK. The archive will extract normally. If the password is wrong, The Unarchiver will display an error.

Keka

Keka detects encryption and prompts for the password before extracting. If you know you will frequently open archives from the same source with the same password, Keka has a password manager built in.

SammaPix online

When you drop an encrypted archive into the SammaPix RAR Opener, a password field appears automatically. Enter the password and the tool will extract the archive. Because everything runs locally, the password is never sent anywhere.

Terminal (unar)

unar -password YOURPASSWORD archive.rar

Replace YOURPASSWORD with the actual password. If the password contains spaces, wrap it in quotes: -password "my secret".

Multi-volume RAR archives: .part1.rar, .part2.rar

Sometimes a large file is split into multiple RAR parts. You will see files named something like:

movie.part1.rar
movie.part2.rar
movie.part3.rar

Or older naming conventions like archive.rar, archive.r00, archive.r01.

Rules for multi-volume RAR

• You need all parts. If any part is missing, extraction will fail or produce a corrupt output. Download every .part file before attempting to extract.
• Put all parts in the same folder. The extractor needs to find them automatically.
• Open only the first part. Double-click movie.part1.rar (or archive.rar). The Unarchiver and Keka will automatically find and process the remaining parts.
• Browser tools do not support this. SammaPix and other in-browser tools cannot handle multi-volume RAR archives. Use a desktop app.

RAR vs ZIP: when to use which

If you are the one creating archives and sending files to others, the choice of format matters. Here is what you should know:

Use ZIP when:

• The recipient might be on Mac, Linux, Windows, or a mobile device. ZIP opens natively everywhere.
• You are sharing files via email or cloud storage. Most services show ZIP previews inline.
• File size is not a major concern. The slight compression difference rarely matters.

RAR has advantages when:

• You need to split a very large archive across multiple parts for easier distribution.
• You need built-in error recovery records (useful for files distributed over unreliable connections).
• You need stronger AES-256 encryption with filename encryption (ZIP's encryption is weaker).
• You know all recipients have WinRAR or a compatible extractor installed.

For most everyday use cases, ZIP wins on compatibility. If you received a RAR and want to convert it to ZIP for easier sharing, extract it first (with any of the methods above) and then re-compress as ZIP using Keka or macOS's built-in right-click Compress option.

What to do after extracting: working with the files

Once you have extracted the RAR, here are some common next steps depending on what was inside:

Images: compress before sharing

If the RAR contained a batch of photos, you might want to compress them before sending via email or WhatsApp. The SammaPix Image Compressor handles batches of images entirely in your browser, no upload needed.

Images: check for hidden EXIF/GPS metadata

Photos inside a RAR often retain their original EXIF metadata, including GPS coordinates. If the images came from a camera or smartphone, they might contain location data. You can check and strip this with the SammaPix EXIF Viewer before forwarding images to others.

PDFs: merge multiple documents

If the RAR contained multiple PDFs that belong together, you can merge them into a single file with the SammaPix PDF Merger. All processing is in-browser with no server upload.

Need to open a .7z file instead?

If you have a 7z archive (common alternative to RAR with similar compression), use the SammaPix 7Z Opener. Same browser-based approach: no installation, no upload, works on any Mac.