Archives

A lightweight macOS app for extracting archives. Drop files onto the window or double-click to extract.

Download

Latest DMG from GitHub releases pages

Supported Formats

Format	Extensions	Tool	Built-in
ZIP	.zip	ditto	Yes
TAR	.tar	tar	Yes
Gzip TAR	.tar.gz, .tgz	tar	Yes
Bzip2 TAR	.tar.bz2, .tbz2, .tbz	tar	Yes
XZ TAR	.tar.xz, .txz	tar	Yes
Gzip	.gz	gunzip	Yes
Bzip2	.bz2	bunzip2	Yes
7-Zip	.7z	7zz	No
RAR	.rar	unrar	No

Installing Optional Tools

For 7-Zip and RAR support, install the CLI tools via Homebrew:

brew install 7-zip
brew install rar

The app automatically detects available tools on first launch.

Building

Open Archives.xcodeproj in Xcode and build.

Adding New File Formats

To add support for a new archive format:

1. Add the CLI tool definition in CLITool.swift

static let myFormat = CLITool(
    identifier: "myformat",           // Unique identifier
    command: "myextractor",           // CLI command name
    name: "My Format Archive",        // Display name
    fileExtensions: ["myf", "myformat"], // Supported extensions
    contentTypes: ["com.example.myformat"], // UTI content types
    arguments: ["-x", "{{source}}", "-o", "{{destination}}"], // CLI arguments
    installHint: "brew install myextractor", // Installation instructions
    outputToStdout: false             // Set true if tool outputs to stdout
)

Add the new tool to the allTools array. Order matters: compound extensions (like .tar.gz) should come before simple ones (like .gz).

For tools that output to stdout (like gunzip -c), set outputToStdout: true. The app will capture stdout and write it to a file.

2. Update Info.plist

Add a document type entry:

<dict>
    <key>CFBundleTypeName</key>
    <string>My Format Archive</string>
    <key>CFBundleTypeRole</key>
    <string>Viewer</string>
    <key>LSHandlerRank</key>
    <string>Alternate</string>
    <key>LSItemContentTypes</key>
    <array>
        <string>com.example.myformat</string>
    </array>
</dict>

If the UTI is not a system-defined type, add a UTImportedTypeDeclarations entry:

<dict>
    <key>UTTypeIdentifier</key>
    <string>com.example.myformat</string>
    <key>UTTypeDescription</key>
    <string>My Format Archive</string>
    <key>UTTypeConformsTo</key>
    <array>
        <string>public.data</string>
        <string>public.archive</string>
    </array>
    <key>UTTypeTagSpecification</key>
    <dict>
        <key>public.filename-extension</key>
        <array>
            <string>myf</string>
            <string>myformat</string>
        </array>
        <key>public.mime-type</key>
        <string>application/x-myformat</string>
    </dict>
</dict>

License

MIT