How to open 7-Zip on Mac?

poulpampadu wrote:

If you’re into more of a hands-on approach, you can always use the Terminal to install p7zip via Homebrew. It’s a bit more techy, but once you get the hang of it, it works pretty smoothly. I can see that the replies here are more technical, I would suggest looking on Reddit: 3d party link reddit thread. More options and user opinions there. Or any other more active forum. Normally problems are solved very quickly here instead of long and detailed conversations. And there's always more lively conversation

There is no need to involve Homebrew at all since a pre-compile binary of 7z is available directly from the 7z developer's website (I provided the link in my previous post). Homebrew should be avoided by most average users since it can cause issues with macOS that those average users cannot resolve.

Yeah, it’s a bit of a hassle with 7z files on a Mac. The built-in tools don’t handle them, so you have to rely on a third-party app or the Terminal if you’re feeling brave. I’ve been there. It’s not the hardest thing to work around, though. I just found something that integrates into Finder, so when I need to unzip a 7z, I can just right-click and go. No extra windows or apps to juggle.

If you’re into more of a hands-on approach, you can always use the Terminal to install p7zip via Homebrew. It’s a bit more techy, but once you get the hang of it, it works pretty smoothly. I can see that the replies here are more technical, I would suggest looking on Reddit: 3d party link reddit thread. More options and user opinions there. Or any other more active forum. Normally problems are solved very quickly here instead of long and detailed conversations. And there's always more lively conversation

Get yourself a decent file extractor that supports 7z. Just install it, drag and drop your archive, and boom - done. Most of them work just like 7-Zip on Windows, so no rocket science involved. If you’re feeling a little techy, you can actually open 7z files straight from the Terminal. macOS has a command-line tool (once you install the right package) that lets you extract and even create 7z archives. A bit more effort, but super handy once you get the hang of it. One more option is Finder-based solution. Some apps integrate nicely with Finder, so you can just right-click and extract without even opening another window. If you often face such a need, this way will be the most effective. 

I ended up going with the Terminal route because, well… I like having full control over what’s happening under the hood. Once you set it up, it’s actually pretty smooth - just a couple of commands and you’re good to go. Plus, no extra apps cluttering up my Mac.

Some years ago I used Keka since it had a GUI interface:

https://www.keka.io/en/

You can get a precompiled installation of 7zip from the developers, but it is only the command line version:

https://7-zip.org/download.html

jovike wrote:

I got 7zip from here - Looks like Unix files. Is there a guide to install it?

7zip itself from the link I provided previously is just a command line utility. There is not need for installing it, you just access the command through the Terminal command line interface. The 7zip command line utility does take some practice & experimentation to understand its formatting & options even if you are familiar with the command line.

If you are not familiar with the command line, then choose the Keka application I linked previously since it provides a GUI interface for various archiving, compression, & extraction features and is meant for the average user. There are many other GUI applications to choose, but I am not personally familiar with them.

jovike wrote:

Thanks, I'll have a go. I've tried Keka: it cannot open/test/list my archive because it is incomplete.

I'm not sure 7zip has the ability to test an archive, but it can list files assuming the archive is valid. I doubt it will work on an incomplete or damaged archive especially if it is a compressed archive. I'm doubtful any utility will be able to access a damaged or incomplete archive.

Here is the command, but you will need to provide the full path to the 7zz utility.....the character between the utility & archive path is a lower case letter "L" for list:

7zz  l  <path-to-archive>

Macs can open 7z archives directly by double clicking. It should make folder with the same name as the 7z archive with all the files.

I am running OS X 15.5 and it worked fine in unpacking it.

Am I the only one that can just double click a 7zip archive and open it without any other apps installed?

Why this need to install something else?

macOS can handle 7zip archives natively.

I got 7zip from here - Looks like Unix files. Is there a guide to install it?

Thanks, I'll have a go. I've tried Keka: it cannot open/test/list my archive because it is incomplete.

I managed that: same error message as Keka. Meanwhile, I now have a complete download file to work with. Safari unpacked it from 7z when saving to disk. Thanks for the help!