I've been a long time user and fan of The Unarchiver. It does one job and one job only, and does it well. Well mostly. It has always had issues with multipart RAR archives that are named like this:
archive.part01.rar
archive.part02.rar
... and so on. In the past, The Unarchiver would just give an error and quit, forcing me to resort to an alternative to open the archive up. It's disappointing enough that the software has never been updated to address this shortcoming, but the recent update (version 4.1.0) has made things worse, Rather than generating the error and quitting, it now not only fails to generate the error but also moves the first part to the trash. That's unacceptable. Until this is fixed, I can only recommend rolling back to an older version.
Like
Version 4.1.0
2 answer(s)
Just-Annutha-Dewd
11 June 2019
I just want to add an update to my review above. I've switched to using Keka. It can do extraction in the exact seamless manner like Unarchiver, plus it handles the kind of multi-part RAR archives properly that Unarchiver chokes on.
Brilliant reliable app and used for years. Don't know about others but I seem to be having problems with this new update. Having a few .rar files which aren't able to be extracted, but can be extracted using other apps like Dr. Unarchiver.......
Like (2)
Version 3.11.2
4 answer(s)
PaulWilkinson9977
03 September 2017
I have re-installed it. Works like a dream!
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PaulWilkinson9977
14 September 2017
Actually it's acting up funny again. Some .rar files are not opening due to errors yet opening OK with Dr. Unarchiver.....
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stew-1
15 September 2017
The original developer sold the program to a different company: http://blog.macpaw.com/post/163484103673/macpaw-bought-unarchiver The faulty versions are all coming from the new company. Note also that the program used to be open source, but the new company has taken down the source code. Since there's nothing really proprietary about this simple program, you have to wonder why they want to hide the source code now.
Like (3)
PaulWilkinson9977
15 September 2017
They've ruined this software. Getting worse. 8 out of every 10 rar files I try to unarchive fails. They better fix it.
Really useful app! It does its job very well. A word to developer: please do add a "Compression" tab in preferences. It is not always desirable to make the archive in the same folder as source.
The Unarchiver is a good compression tool. That said, it isn't very stable at times. Locking up and crashing happens a lot running it in OS X 10.11.x
Nowadays I switched to Keka. Rock solid.
MU needs to update the min OS system requirements. 3.10.1 (still) does not work on Snow Leopard (10.6.7 in my case). No big problem since I've never had a problem with The Unarchiver 3.9.1. {I have my reasons for not going past OSX 10.6.7].
FWIW I still see the kSecDigestSHA1 reference from Sparkle with 3.10.1.
Note that unar and lsar 1.9.1 appear to work (1.9 was crashing too) on my system. So I can at least update my 1.8.1 versions with the 1.9.1's.
Like
Version 3.10.1
1 answer(s)
Waha-06x36
24 September 2015
I changed the requirement to 10.7 when I submitted the update, they changed it back. Sigh.
3.10.1 was quickly released on the heels of 3.10, but on the archive pages and bitbucket I see no 3.10.1 Legacy edition. Does that not exist? There's no unar/lsar 1.9.1 Legacy either.
Like
Version 3.10.1
1 answer(s)
Waha-06x36
24 September 2015
No, those are not affected by the bug so they did not need an update.
I liked the Unarchiver so much, but the newest version crashes on Mavericks...
Like
Version 3.10
4 answer(s)
Waha-06x36
23 September 2015
I've had some reports of this, so I've tried to change the listed minimum version to 10.10 until I can get this fixed.
Could you tell me which version you are running (App Store, web site, or legacy)?
Like (2)
Waha-06x36
24 September 2015
3.10.1 should have fixed this bug.
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Abuosman
24 September 2015
The new release fixed the bug. Thank you for your instant reaction. The problem occurred in both AppStore and website version (I had the former, after the crashes switched to the latter). By the way, the Archive Browser (AppStore version) has thesame problem .
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Waha-06x36
24 September 2015
Yeah, there are updates on the way for both on the App Store, but as usual, it's never a quick process to fix bugs on the App Store.
This is simply excellent free software which has for years been my default extraction tool...! I am curious if “better support for Zip, 7z, gzip, and NSIS files” implies updated versions of these modes of compression...? Even so, I have not noticed any issues with these particular kind of files...
When it comes to RAR files (split and single) I have so far kept a copy of unRarX (with DIY latest unrar binary) since there has been *rare* instances where The Unarchiver have not been able to join/extract archives (no password involved) or, worse, omitted to extract selections of their contents without reporting. unRarX will, on the other hand, always extract these correctly.
But perhaps this unRarX “bystand” will not be a necessary precaution anymore...? I do hope that the unrar version is the latest in The Unarchiver 3.10, but have not found any information about this yet. But as said, this issue concerns RARe :-) cases and will not prevent me from using it as my default unarchiver.
I also had nothing but problems with The Unarchiver since some time but they are all gone since I downloaded (and use) the legacy version directly from the developer's website. I am glad about this because I really like the quit-after-unarchiving feature.
I used The Unarchiver for years and loved it. Then one day it stopped working, giving a message that the file was corrupt or incomplete (I don't recall the exact message, this was some time ago). Switched to Stuffit (yes, Stuffit) Expander and haven't looked back. I wish Expander would quit after unarchiving like TA does but that is a minor issue easily handled with a kb shortcut.
To my surprise I just discovered that Unarchiver won't extract usual TIFF-files properly claiming file format is "unsupported". At least if the archive is a sitx. In addition Unarchiver won't actually use "use for all" settings if there is a problem when batch processing and you get a dialog on how to handle that type of issue. All following similar issues gives you the same dialog anew even if you check "use for all".
Unarchiver is free and usually works, but maybe it's time to look for a better solution.
Like
Version 3.9.1
2 answer(s)
Waha-06x36
23 September 2015
TIFF files use special entirely secret compression in sitx. Nobody but Stuffit knows how it works or supports it.
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Mikael-B
23 September 2015
OK. As it is listed next to .sit and .1 in preferences, that gives a clear impression that Unarchiver supports Sitx and that this is not so in TIFF files should perhaps be made more clear by the error message.
Fot the first time I used it I was very glad. I don't really know whether it's a last version's feature or not but now after double-click on archive file I get 2 times Preferences window and one time working. If you think that it will help you to get donation you are not right. Quite vice a versa.
Impossible to use with Yosemite.
Only the preference panel appears…
I hope an update soon !
Like
Version 3.9.1
3 answer(s)
Macinman
06 November 2014
I was able to get this to work with yosemite by going to the website and downloading the version of theunarchiver for legacy versions of os x that aren't sandboxed. The problems seem to only be with the app store sandboxed version
Like (2)
Manu-V
10 November 2014
Thank's Macinman ! The legacy edition work fine. @#%&*! sandbox ;-)
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Waha-06x36
31 May 2015
This is caused by third-party apps doing questionable modifications of OS X. SwitchRes X is one that has been reported to cause this problem.
For the Developer, Theunarrchiver no longer allows file types to be selected and deselected under yosemite. I went to the site looking for a contact link but didn't find one. Hope the dev reads here :)
Like
Version 3.9.1
2 answer(s)
anonymous-dingo-1058
06 November 2014
don't hold your breath, seems wont work with yosemite
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Waha-06x36
31 May 2015
This feature has been entirely removed from all sandboxed apps by Apple in Yosemite. Use the non-sandboxed legacy version to get this functionality back.
Works fine but odd thing happens on occasion when batch extracting the files. On occasion it would show error, saying extraction failed, and then all following files in the batch also fail to extract, even through the other files are part of a completely separate archive. When I go to redo extraction, things work fine, but sometimes I end up extracting individual files. There is something with the batch process and it just stops the whole extraction batch instead of stopping just extraction of a specific archive if the archive has an error (which is not a case at all anyways).
I favour this over UnRarX because it neatly extracts RAR, doing everything in the right order.
It extracts to a folder and doesn't just dump loose files in the folder.
It asks for the password if there is one before running away with the extraction.
Clean and neat.
Archive Expert looks like a good alternative:
https://itunes.apple.com/de/app/archive-expert/id802854212
Buuuahahahahaha
http://i.imgur.com/F3WsUiS.jpg (Archive Expert)
http://i.imgur.com/F3WsUiS.jpg (The Unarchiver)
After I had problem with character settings of filename in zip, I tryied The Unarchvier too. What Entropy, Winzip, Betterzip, etc. cant, The Unarchiver can ... I set The Unarchiver as my default unarchiver.
Doesn't Work in Maverick. Apple native one now works well.
Like
Version 3.9.1
5 answer(s)
Mikael-B
17 December 2013
3.9.1 works in Mavericks.
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Andrewrodney
19 December 2013
It works for me but not like it did prior to the update of the OS. It does unzip the files but always asks permission to do so, says once I click OK it will allow the use of that path. But I have to do this every use.
Like (1)
Mikael-B
19 December 2013
@Andrewrodney, I don't have this issue. Are you perhaps not an admin on this machine? It sounds like your user don't have permissions to make changes to the folder in question. Normally the user have full permissions to his/hers folder content under the /Users/[user]/Downloads hierarchy.
You can change owner and permissions in Finder or in Terminal with the "chown" and "chmod" command.
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Andrewrodney
19 December 2013
I have Admin but maybe it's the desktop permissions where I'm trying to save that's an issue. Thanks, I'll look into it.
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Christian-Schwang
05 January 2014
@Andrewrodney, If you downloaded it via the Mac App Store, this is Apple's Sandbox kicking in. You can work around this issue if you download the non App Store Version from the Developer's site
I gave up with Apple's Archive Utility a long time ago after it started playing around,and I found this,The Unarchiver,and it is absolutely rock solid,never letting me down. Thank you.
Like
Version 3.9
1 answer(s)
Mikael-B
17 December 2013
I never had a problem opening anything at all with Archive Utility, but then I jumped Mountain Lion and downgraded from Lion to Snow Leopard more than a year ago. Perhaps it was better there. Now I'm on Mavericks.
I use Archive Utility for automatic unarchiving together with Hazel which deletes the original and moves the content elsewhere and Unarchiver for when I want to unarchive something and keep the original intact.
Great utility, wish it could "cue-up" RAR files instead of going one at a time
Like (1)
Version 3.8
3 answer(s)
Kobalt
02 October 2013
Maybe I'm not understanding you quite correctly, but I find that selecting a bunch of RAR files and simply double-clicking the lot makes then expand one after another without further intervention.
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Circlesoft
02 October 2013
There appears to be a strange bug in OS X that causes RAR files to get lost when clicking on multiple ones at a time. If you click on them one by one, it is more likely to work. I have been unable to find out what causes this, but authors of other programs have experienced the same.
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Mikael-B
17 December 2013
I use UnrarX for multiple archives and it will always work, also for the occasional password protected ones. Unarchiver usually works too. I always click the root file and make sure they are all in the same folder next to each other.
The Unarchiver is a great app that does exactly what it's supposed to do. It's faster than OS X's built-in archive utility, but the main reason I like it is that it doesn't render huge quantities of memory inactive when I’m compressing large numbers of big files ( ≥ 1GB ).
The built-in utility chews up active memory and spits out big-time inactive memory after compressing just a few large files. If you don’t have lots of RAM installed, the system slows to a crawl. I DO have lots of RAM (32GB), but that doesn’t help when I have dozens of large files to compress.
Yeah, I know I can use the "purge" command in Terminal.app, and that's certainly one instance in which it's quite useful to clear inactive memory. But with The Unarchiver, there's less need to do that. It creates far less inactive memory. It's my go-to application for compressing files.
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Version 3.8
2 answer(s)
Mikael-B
17 December 2013
What's "large" in your case?
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freevito
17 December 2013
To Mikael B: As my original post specifies, there are "dozens of large files", and explicitly states that they are files ≥ 1GB in file size.
In AppStore is v 3.7 , and have not update to v 3.8 ?
Like (2)
Version 3.8
3 answer(s)
Monkeyjunkey
05 July 2013
We do love Apples MAS, don't we?
Imo a flawed by design system. Nice to see developers starting to ignore that stuff and had back to the much better system of taking care of the distribution themselves.
Like (5)
freevito
07 July 2013
The App Store takes control away from the user in the name of "ease of use". Apparently it's part of Apple's ongoing process of dumbing down the Mac experience. I've lost count of how many apps I've wanted to try and ended up saying "No thanks" because they do not offer any other access besides the App Store.
Thanks for making The Unarchiver directly available without the the tyranny of the App Store.
Like (1)
Mikael-B
17 December 2013
I feel Mac App store is good, but we must fight the picture that there aren't developers out there worth supporting that choose to distribute from their own web sites and via sites like Macupdate and others.
The Mac app universe existed before App Store and if the people at Apple are smart they will make sure it stays alive.
Most helpful
Read 272 The Unarchiver User Reviews
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http://blog.macpaw.com/post/163484103673/macpaw-bought-unarchiver
The faulty versions are all coming from the new company.
Note also that the program used to be open source, but the new company has taken down the source code. Since there's nothing really proprietary about this simple program, you have to wonder why they want to hide the source code now.
FWIW I still see the kSecDigestSHA1 reference from Sparkle with 3.10.1.
Note that unar and lsar 1.9.1 appear to work (1.9 was crashing too) on my system. So I can at least update my 1.8.1 versions with the 1.9.1's.
Could you tell me which version you are running (App Store, web site, or legacy)?
In addition Unarchiver won't actually use "use for all" settings if there is a problem when batch processing and you get a dialog on how to handle that type of issue. All following similar issues gives you the same dialog anew even if you check "use for all".
Unarchiver is free and usually works, but maybe it's time to look for a better solution.
The legacy edition work fine.
@#%&*! sandbox ;-)