I switched to Mac a while ago and realized there’s no built-in way to open .7z files. On Windows, I always used 7-Zip, but it’s not officially available for macOS. What’s the best way to extract and create 7z files on a Mac?
Some years ago I used Keka since it had a GUI interface:
You can get a precompiled installation of 7zip from the developers, but it is only the command line version:
Get yourself a decent file extractor that supports 7z. Just install it, drag and drop your archive, and boom - done. Most of them work just like 7-Zip on Windows, so no rocket science involved. If you’re feeling a little techy, you can actually open 7z files straight from the Terminal. macOS has a command-line tool (once you install the right package) that lets you extract and even create 7z archives. A bit more effort, but super handy once you get the hang of it. One more option is Finder-based solution. Some apps integrate nicely with Finder, so you can just right-click and extract without even opening another window. If you often face such a need, this way will be the most effective.
I ended up going with the Terminal route because, well… I like having full control over what’s happening under the hood. Once you set it up, it’s actually pretty smooth - just a couple of commands and you’re good to go. Plus, no extra apps cluttering up my Mac.
Macs can open 7z archives directly by double clicking. It should make folder with the same name as the 7z archive with all the files.
How to open 7-Zip on Mac?
