Free and open source macOS archiver from WhereTeam.
🌐 Landing page: whereteam.github.io/openzip
Guides (SEO): Password ZIP on Mac · RAR extractor for Mac
Unzip, RAR & 7z extractor that tells you what went wrong.
macOS cannot create a password-protected zip without the Terminal, and opening
one it does not understand often produces an empty folder with no explanation.
OpenZip fixes both, and strips .DS_Store / __MACOSX so Mac-made zips are
usable on Windows.
Price: free forever (GPL-3.0). No ads, no account, files never leave your Mac.
| Platform | macOS 11 Big Sur or later (Apple silicon + Intel) |
| License | GPL-3.0 |
| Org | github.com/whereteam |
- Drop zone + open panels; progress and cancel
- Password zip with Generate / Copy
- Human prompt: “Recipient opens on Windows without extra software?” → ZipCrypto vs AES-256
- Strips Mac junk by default
- Clear errors (wrong password vs damaged file vs unsupported)
- Finder extension: Compress, Compress with Password, Extract Here
- Double-click archives to extract next to the original file
- Optional 7zz helper for password-protected RAR / 7z
git clone https://github.com/whereteam/openzip.git
cd openzip
./scripts/build-vendor.sh
./scripts/fetch-7zz.sh # optional: password RAR/7z
xcodegen generate # brew install xcodegen
xcodebuild -scheme OpenZip -configuration Release buildOpen the built app from Xcode’s DerivedData Build/Products/Release/OpenZip.app,
or run the scheme from Xcode.
After first launch:
- System Settings → enable the OpenZip Finder extension
- Right-click → Compress with OpenZip… / Extract Here with OpenZip
Use Set as Default in the app so double-click opens ZIP / RAR / 7z in OpenZip.
| Action | Formats |
|---|---|
| Extract | zip (ZipCrypto + AES), tar, gz, bz2, xz, 7z, RAR |
| Extract + password | zip always; 7z/RAR when 7zz is present (scripts/fetch-7zz.sh) |
| Create | zip, optional AES-256 or ZipCrypto |
./scripts/build-vendor.sh
swift testVendor/ is not committed; scripts rebuild libarchive/xz (and optional 7zz) from upstream.
- Source: this repository (always free)
- Binary releases: see Releases when published
Unsigned/local builds may need right-click → Open the first time (Gatekeeper)
Same features whether you build yourself or download a release.
GPL-3.0 — see LICENSE.
The optional 7zz helper is the official 7-Zip console binary (Igor Pavlov),
fetched separately via scripts/fetch-7zz.sh and not linked into the GPL
sources as a library.