If you’re a Mac user who frequently works with compressed files, you’re likely familiar with the .rar format. However, opening these files on Mac isn’t as straightforward as it is on Windows. In this blog post, we’ll guide you on how to open .rar files using WinRAR on your Mac.
What is WinRAR?
WinRAR is a powerful archive manager that lets you create, manage, and control archived files. Although it’s widely used on Windows, WinRAR is also available for Mac users, albeit in a command-line interface only.
Installing WinRAR on Mac
As mentioned, WinRAR for Mac doesn’t offer a graphical interface like the Windows version. Therefore, it must be operated from the terminal. Here’s how to install it:
- First, download the WinRAR application for Mac from the official website.
- Once downloaded, open the terminal on your Mac. You can do this by searching for ‘Terminal’ in Spotlight.
- Navigate to the directory where the downloaded file is located using the cd command.
- Unpack the downloaded file by typing the following command:
tar -xvf rarosx-5.9.0.tar.gz - Finally, move the extracted files to /usr/local/bin using the following command:
sudo mv rar unrar /usr/local/bin
And there you have it – WinRAR is now installed on your Mac!
Using WinRAR on Mac
As we’ve mentioned, WinRAR for Mac operates through the command line, so here’s a basic command to help you get started with extracting .rar files:
unrar x filename.rar
In this command, unrar is the command-line application, x is the command to extract the files with full paths, and filename.rar is the name of the file you want to extract.
While the command-line interface might be a bit intimidating if you’re not used to it, it’s actually quite straightforward once you get the hang of it.
Conclusion
WinRAR can be a handy tool for managing compressed files on your Mac, especially if you frequently work with .rar files. While it may be a bit unfamiliar at first, with a bit of practice, you’ll be navigating and extracting files with ease in no time!
