RAR for Mac is from the same developer who brought you WinRAR for Mac but of course, it isn't called WinRAR for Mac because it's a Mac and not a Windows application. RAR is a powerful archive manager. It can back up your data and reduce the size of email attachments, decompress RAR, ZIP and other files downloaded from Internet and create new archives in RAR and ZIP file format. The application not only includes support for extracting virtually any kind of file compression format, it also boasts a no-nonsense approach to reducing file sizes.

When you download RAR, you might be confused by the fact that it's just a folder of files. This is because there is no graphical user interface for RAR. It works only via the command line using Terminal so if you've got no experience of using Terminal, then you're going to be a bit stranded. If you're willing to learn however, here's how to do it...

Place the files in any folder on your hard drive, and run the utility by typing in the full path to the application (e.g. to run from the current directory, type "./rar" or "./unrar" followed by the appropriate parameters). If you get stuck, simply type the application name (RAR or UNRAR) without any parameters to see list of useful commands.

However, this will no doubt prove too complicated for most general users and considering the fact that you have to buy a license too for RAR, there are far better applications out there such as Zipeg which is both free and has a GUI thus making it much easier to use.

RAR is a powerful compression tool and the closest thing to WinRAR for Mac but if you don't know how to run programs from the Terminal, it won't be much use to you.

Download RAR (WinRAR for Mac) 4.20 in Softonic

UnRarX is very easy to use. Simply drag and drop RAR files onto the UnRarX interface and your files will be automatically unzipped. The extracting process appears in the main section of the UnRarX interface to indicate the progress of the extraction.

The main controls for UnRarX are in the top-right of the main interface. These functions allow you to browse for a file, extract files and test files to see whether they are corrupt. If your file is password protected, just press the 'password' button and enter it to open and extract the archive.

You may encounter a few problems depending on your file type. If you receive a CRC error, it's likely that one of your RAR archives is corrupted. Also, if you experience a "UnRarX cannot extract archive" error message, try re-directing the output volume to your desktop instead of File Directory. These little glitches can make UnRarX a bit tricky for beginners but most people should experience fre problems.

Unfortunately there seems to be very little developer support for UnRarX although there is a support page with links to a forum and bug report page, where you may be able to find help with problems you're having. Note as well that UnRarX only unarchives RAR files - it won't create them for you.

UnRarX is one of the closest things to WinRAR on Mac for unzipping RAR archives.

Download UnRarX 2.2 in Softonic

Handling RAR files on Mac can be quite common, so you need a solution to extract them quickly and easily.

Open up your archive with the program and it will take care of the rest. It's most important feature is handling multi part archives, quite useful when you're expanding a file containing multiple video parts for example.

RAR Expander will also work with password protected files, but you'll have to make sure you remember your password before expanding.

While this is one of the most common formats you'll come across, it's a shame that the program doesn't let you expand other popular formats like Stuffit Expander does.

Users have also been known to prefer unRarX, which effectively restores corrupted archives, something that RAR Expander doesn't seem to handle.

Download RAR Expander 0.8.5 Beta 3 in Softonic

One of the problems with RAR archivers for the Mac like RAR - which is essentially the same as WinRAR, except for Macs, obviously - is that they often come without any kind of graphical user interface, meaning it's difficult for new users to install and use them.

As the name suggests, SimplyRAR is a very easy to use archiver that makes archiving and unarchiving files a breeze. Opening archives is as easy as simply browsing to them, and SimplyRAR instantly displays a log of the results. The same goes for archiving RAR files on SimplyRAR. Even easier is the fact that - as in Windows with the WinRAR free download - you can simply right click on an archive to zip it up or unzip it.

Unfortunately, the developer of SimplyRAR doesn't seem to be in business anymore, meaning it will be difficult to get support for this app if you have any problems. It's possible that the SimplyRAR license holders of the RAR protocol have "banned" this app which is possibly why the developer has disappeared. There have also been some complaints that it uses a lot of RAM.

SimplyRAR is one of the easiest RAR archive tools out there on the Mac.

Download SimplyRAR 1.10 in Softonic