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How to Open .Rar Files on a Mac

By eHow Computers Editor

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.Rar is a file format that is used to compress computer files and make them smaller. .Rar files can be broken up into equally sized parts for archiving and they can also be password protected. To open a .rar on your Mac, you usually need special software.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Mac running OS X 10.x
.Rar files to open
.Rar expander software

Expand the Files With Decompression Software

Step1

Learn about .rar files. .Rar files are popular with Windows users (the main .rar expander being WinRar), but you can also open .rar files on your Mac.

Step2

Use StuffIt Expander if your computer runs Mac OS X. This program is built in to the system. You can use StuffIt Expander to decompress .rar files on your Mac (see Resources below). StuffIt Expander also opens several other compressed file types.

Step3

Use a decompression tool such as UnrarX to open .rar files on a Mac (see Resources below). UnrarX is available for Mac OS X 10.0 and higher.

Step4

Download software such as RAR Expander, which supports Apple scripts and can also expand multiple archives at once (See Resources below).

Step5

Open .rar files on your Mac by dragging the files and then dropping them onto the icon for your expander software. The software will then decompress and open the files so you can use them.

Tips & Warnings

Make your own compressed .rar files with compression software and save space on your hard drive. StuffIt has this capability.
Before opening any .rar file, always make sure to run it through a virus scanner if you don't know where the file came from.
In some cases, large files are split into multiple .rar files called "volumes." You will know if you have a multiple-volume .rar file by the file name extension. The main file that you will need to decompress will be labeled .rar00, with additional files numbered .rar01, .rar02, etc. If you do not have all of the smaller volumes, you might not be able to open the main file. You will need to get the missing files from the original author.

Who Can Help:

Resources

Comments

piyush1414 said

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on 9/21/2008 Check Free Mac compression utility
http://www.macrar.info/freemacrarcompressionutility.php

kellibow said

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on 6/1/2008 I have a rar file which was emailed to me. It's a digital recording of a presentation I did but I've tried Stuffit expander and unrar but each time it expands the file to a mpg and I try to open it, it says it cannot open the file??? HELP! Please.
Thanks
KB