Stephan Arenswald
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3 min read
MacPacker

MacPacker

MacPacker is a lightweight archive previewer and extractor for macOS.
It integrates with Finder and supports a wide range of archive formats, including ZIP, RAR, 7z, TAR, ISO, and more.

Overview

MacPacker allows you to explore archive contents before extracting them.
It provides a native macOS interface and a Quick Look extension to preview archives directly in Finder.
You can also inspect nested archives (archives within archives) without extracting the entire file.

Features

  • 🗂️ Preview over 20 archive formats (ZIP, RAR, 7z, TAR, LZH, ISO, XZ, etc.)
  • 🔍 Finder Quick Look integration — press Space to preview archives
  • 📦 Extract individual files or complete archives
  • 🧭 Browse nested archives recursively
  • 🧱 Native macOS design built with AppKit and Swift
  • 💻 Runs on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs
  • 🔐 Sandboxed and notarized by Apple for security
  • 🧩 Open source on GitHub under GPL-3.0

Technical Details

  • Written in Swift 5
  • Built with AppKit, SwiftUI, and XADMaster
  • Includes Quick Look and Finder extensions
  • Uses shared UserDefaults for app–extension communication
  • Sandboxed and notarized by Apple for trusted distribution

Supported Formats

7z, bzip2, cab, cpio, gzip, iso, lha, lzh, lzx, rar, sea, sit, tar, xz, Z, zip, lz4
…and other formats supported by XADMaster.

Installation

  1. Download the latest release from macpacker.app or GitHub Releases
  2. Move the app to your Applications folder
  3. Launch once to enable Quick Look integration
  4. Press Space in Finder to preview any supported archive

License

MacPacker is open source software released under the GPL-3.0 License.
You may use, study, and modify it under the terms of the license.