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So you tried to open a .rar file you downloaded on the Internet, or received from a colleague/friend via email. Then you get a weird error on your Mac, because the file couldn’t be opened.
It’s really disappointing. I’ve been there many times, since I use my MacBook Pro to communicate with others who are probably on a PC. In fact, I also ran into the same problem when I switched from PC to Mac a few years ago.
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Luckily, I managed to fix it with an amazing app called The Unarchiver, the best RAR extractor app for Mac. Plus, it’s still free. Meanwhile, I also tested dozens of other applications on my Mac, and filtered those that are 100% free and easy to use and you can read more below.
NEW UPDATE
Hi there, Thanks for reading this article. It’s been two years since I first published this post. Things have changed a lot when it comes to unrar apps for Mac. I was hoping Apple macOS could add this feature to its built-in Archive Utility app, unfortunately, it seems that Apple macOS team doesn’t plan to do this. My MacBook Pro is now with the latest 10.13 High Sierra, and I have to rely on third-party apps to extract RAR files.
As for the best rar extractor app for Mac, the recommendation stays the same — The Unarchiver. It’s still free to download and use. However, it’s worth noting that the app has been acquired by MacPaw (the maker of CleanMyMac, an awesome Mac cleaning app) and is now part of the MacPaw family. You can read more from this press release.
Also, I just found a more powerful app called BetterZip 4 — which allows Mac users to not only extract many types of archives, but you can also use it to create archives or preview content of an archive without extracting. Those additional features are not available in The Unarchiver or Archive Utility. I recommend BetterZip to those of you who often need to handle a different kind of files on a PC and Mac. Note: BetterZip isn’t freeware ($24.95 for the paid version), but a free trial is offered. You can get BetterZip 4 from Setapp here.
What about the other apps listed below? I tried to check them now and then, just to make sure they’re usable and the information is accurate. But I find it so time-consuming because every year or so Apple releases a new version of macOS (to date, it’s High Sierra 10.13.2), those apps that fail to be updated often can’t run or malfunction. Therefore, I’d discourage you to check them out unless you are interested. That said, I’ll try my best to keep the content on this post as fresh as possible.
What is an RAR File?
RAR is a compressed file short for Roshal Archive; it’s a proprietary file format developed by Eugene Roshal, a genius software engineer. Simply put, a .rar file is like a big data container that holds a set of individual files and folders inside.
Why use RAR? Because it reduces the size of your files and folders while keeping all the content 100% intact. With a RAR, it’s much easier to store on removable media or transferred over the Internet.
According to this comparison image provided by Compression Ratings, RAR files achieve much higher compression, especially on multimedia files. They are also easier to split or to recover once corrupted than other alternatives like ZIP or 7Zip files.
How to Open an RAR Archive on Mac?
Unlike other archive files, for example, a ZIP archive can be directly created or extracted by using the default function on Mac (here’s a tutorial), a RAR file can only be opened using third-party software…which, unfortunately, Apple hasn’t built into the Archive Utility, yet.
That’s why there are plenty of third-party applications available on the Internet that claim to be able to do that. Some are dated, while some require you to pay.
Thanks to those smart, yet kind developers, we have quite a lot of free options to get the job done without taking a penny out of the pocket. I’ve tested many and here are the 10 best free apps that still work.
10 Free RAR Extractor Apps That Work on Mac
Note: Some of the apps below are open source, and the authors accept donations. If you find the one you use is really awesome, kindly show your appreciation. Hundreds of hours were spent to make that product work well.
1. The Unarchiver
The Unarchiver is my favorite. Like the name indicates, it unpacks almost any archive instantly without launching the app. The app is very powerful, even does what the built-in Archive Utility can’t — extracts RAR archives. It also supports handling filenames in foreign character sets.
2. B1 Free Archiever
Another great open source app, the B1 Free Archiver serves as an all-in-one program for managing file archives. As you can see from the screenshot above, this tool allows you to create, open and extract archives. It opens .rar, .zip, and 35 other file formats. Besides Mac, there are also versions for Windows, Linux, and Android.
3. UnRarX
UnRarX is a simple utility designed to expand .rar files and restore corrupted or missing archives with .par and .par2 files. It has an extraction function as well. To do this, simply open the program, drag your archive files into the interface, and UnRarX will unpack the content to the specified destination.
4. StuffIt Expander Mac
StuffIt Expander for Mac allows you to uncompress both Zip and RAR archives. I found the app very easy to use. Once the program is installed, you should see an icon (as shown on the top of the above screenshot). Click on it. Next select the file, specify the destination to store your extracted files, and you’re done.
5. MacPar deLuxe
Another great tool that can open RAR files, and do a lot beyond! Originally developed to recover missing or corrupted information by processing “par” and “par2” files, MacPAR deLuxe is able to unpack the data with its built-in unrar engine. If you are a Macintosh user who frequently downloads or uploads binary files, then most likely you’ll love this utility program. You can get it from its official site here.
6. iZip for Mac
iZip is another powerful yet effective tool built from the ground up for Mac users to compress/decompress, secure, and share files easily. It supports all kinds of archive formats including RAR, ZIP, ZIPX, TAR, and 7ZIP. To unzip a file, just drag and drop it into the software main interface. Another window will pop up with the extracted files. Super fast!
7. RAR Extractor Free
RAR Extractor Free is an app that specializes in extracting Rar, Zip, Tar, 7-zip, Gzip, Bzip2 files conveniently and safely. Once you download and launch the app, you’ll see a pop-up window that asks you to specify an “unarchive” location. To load your files, you’ll need to move to the top left and click “Open.”
8. SimplyRAR (Mac)
SimplyRAR is another awesome archiving app for Mac OS. As its name suggests, SimplyRAR is a simple to use program that makes archiving and unarchiving files a breeze. Open it by dropping the file into the application, choosing a compression method, and pulling the trigger. The downside of the app is that it will be difficult to get support from the developer, as it appears they’re no longer in business.
9. RAR Expander
RAR Expander (Mac) is a clean GUI utility for creating and expanding RAR archives. It supports single, multi-part or password-protected archives. It also features AppleScript support and includes example scripts to help you handle multiple archives at once.
10. Zipeg
Zipeg is also handy yet free. What I really like is its ability to preview an entire file before extracting it. It also supports password protected and multipart files. Note: To open the software, you’ll need to install the legacy Java SE 6 runtime (see this Apple support article).
What’s Your Favorite UnRAR Tool?
Does the recommended one help you extract or unzip your RAR files? Or do you find a better unarchiver app for Mac than the ones listed above? Let me know by leaving a quick comment below.
Summary
This page uncovers 5 best completely free data recovery software for macOS Catalina, macOS Mojave, older versions and morden Mac OS X, etc. All those Mac data recovery software share one commonality, they are free and useful for casual Mac users. Pick up one and let it take care of your Mac data now.
This article covers the top five completely free data recovery software for Mac, which varies from features, functions, and performance. However, they all have one thing in common: they are free.
Compare the five tools carefully, and select the one that fits your needs best.
PAGE CONTENT:
Top 5 Completely Free Data Recovery Software for Mac
When you get data loss on your Mac due to accidental deletion, partition/hard drive formatting, system crash, macOS upgrade, file system or hard drive corruption, stay calm and pick up one of the recommended data recovery software in the below for help.
1. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free is one of the free top and handy Mac data recovery software that enables you to recover data from the emptied trash bin, Mac notebooks, desktops, hard drives, USB drives, SD cards, memory cards, digital cameras, etc. It works on internal APFS/HFS+/HFS X drives, and FAT/FAT32/exFAT/NTFS file systems used in USB flash drives and external hard drives connected to Mac.
Highlighted Features:
# 1. All-in-one data recovery software
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free is fully compatible with the latest macOS 10.15(Catalina), 10.14 (Mojave) and all the former versions. It enables all Mac users to perform a full recovery of lost valuable data in only 3 steps: Scan > Preview > Recover.
# 2. HFS+ Fusion Drive Recovery
The latest update of EaseUS Mac data recovery software has improved its support of Fusion Drive, which makes it work even better in retrieving files from Mac computers which are installed on fusion drives.
# 3. Encrypted Drive Recovery
Another great update in EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac is that it supports encrypted drive recovery by offering guidance to assist Mac users in decrypting and unlocking their drives with password.
# 4. Data Protection
Once the data protection feature is enabled, it will automatically back up the deleted files to a safe location. If you unexpectedly delete files and want to recover later, you can quickly restore the lost files from the created backup.
Pros:
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2. Disk Drill
Disk Drill is a popular Mac data recovery application developed to recover lost partitions or files from Mac internal and external hard drives. Also, the Recovery Vault and Guaranteed Recovery options in the free trial version support to monitor the file deletion activity and retain metadata so as to quickly undelete files.
Highlighted Features:
# 1. Undelete Protected Data (Not Available in Free Version)
Being similar to the Data Protection feature in EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac, Disk Drill also contains an undelete protected data feature that requires Recovery Vault and Guaranteed Recovery features to be enabled in advance.
With these two features enabled, Mac users could quickly undelete files from a Trash Bin reference or shadow copy of each file to a user-specified folder.
# 2. Allocate Existing Files
When Finder fails to read data, Disk Utility reports the drive as unformatted, Disk Drill can scan the partition and retrieve data from Mac.
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3. PhotoRec
PhotoRec is a free, open-source program that works very well in data recovery on older operating systems like OS X, Linux, Free BSD, Net BSD, Open BSD, and Windows.
It allows users to restore most common files, like photos, audios, documents, ZIP archives, and others from internal or external devices, such as digital cameras, memory cards, USB flash drives and partitions/hard disks.
Highlighted Features:
# 1. Advanced File Carving
PhotoRec first searches for the data block or cluster size. The program will quickly load value from superblock like ext2/ext3/ext4 or volume boot record like FAT/NTFS if the file system is not corrupted. When file system corrupted, PhotoRec will check the device by a sector level, using the first 10 found files to calculate the block or cluster size so as to locate and find more lost files.
# 2. Block or Cluster Level Recovery
This program will read the Mac device block by block, cluster by cluster, checking against different file signatures so to recuperate available files.
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4. TestDisk
TestDisk, like PhotoRec, it's also an open-source, freeware product that allows for multiple file types recovery.
It mainly focuses on partition recovery. It enables users to find deleted or lost partitions by fixing the partition tables due to software crash, virus attack, mistaken formatting, etc.
Highlighted Features:
# 1. Partition Recovery
When a partition lost or disappeared on Mac due to corrupted partition tables, Mac users can apply TestDisk to rebuild and repair the corrupted partition table.
# 2. Rebuild Boot Sectors
When the Mac bootable drive fails to boot, it corrects problems in bootable drives that are failing to boot.
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5. Exif Untrasher
Exif Untrasher is another completely free Mac data recovery tool that mainly restores deleted or JPEG files from digital cameras, external drive, USB stick, SD card, etc. You can easily download and install this software on your Mac running Mac OS X 10.10 and all the later versions.
Highlighted Features:
# 1. Highly Efficient in JEPG Recovery
Exif Untrasher is a tool that mainly designed to locate photos in JEPG formats on any kind of storage device like SD card, CF card, memory stick or Mac hard disk.
External storage device needs to be mounted as a volume on Mac for the utility to access and attempt a restore.
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Best Free Mac Software For Undeleting Files Free
3-Step Tutorial of Free Mac Data Recovery
To help more Mac users to bring their lost files are soon as possible, we are here to show you a 3-step tutorial of free Mac data recovery. If you are eager to bring your lost files back on Mac or external storage devices, apply the brief and innovative EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free for help.
Remember to connect your USB, SD card, or external hard drive to Mac computer if your lost data were saved on it.
Step 1. Select the disk location (it can be an internal HDD/SSD or a removable storage device) where you lost data and files. Click the Scan button.
Step 2. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac will immediately scan your selected disk volume and display the scanning results on the left pane.
Step 3. In the scan results, select the file(s) and click Recover Now button to have them back.
Conclusion
On this page, you are presented with the top 5 completely free Mac data recovery software - EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free, Disk Drill, PhotoRec, TestDisk, Exif Untrasher. When you are facing unexpected data loss on Mac, the programs demonstrated above can help you recover lost files effectively.
What's more, if your lost data is less than 2GB, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free is highly recommended as it provides the most user-friendly interface and most powerful data recovery function.
If you simply want to restore JEGP images, Exif Untrasher is worth to try.
People Also Ask
Some Mac users may still have doubts about Mac file recovery. Here we have collected the top frequently asked 4 questions and left brief answers below. Check out and find your own answers here.
1. Is Mac data recovery free?
It depends. If you lost deleted files to Trash, you can restore them from the Trash for free.
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When you lost files on a local Mac hard drive or an external storage device, if you apply free Mac data recovery software like EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free for help, it's free.
If you take your computer to a local data recovery center, it will charge you a big bunch of money.
2. What is the best free data recovery software?
The Recommended software also works perfectly in Windows OS for data recovery and you can find out the most suitable for you to apply and restore lost files with ease.
Undelete Files Windows 10
3. Is there any free data recovery software?
Sure! Many data recovery software producers all have released their free data recovery software. Here we have collected some of them for you to pick up one and apply to guard your own data.
10 Top Free Data Recovery Software for Windows Users:
5 Top Free Data Recovery Software for Mac Users: (We have uncovered on this page)
4. How can I recover deleted files without software Mac free?
There are two ways for you to recover deleted files on Mac for free without using data recovery software.
Best Free Mac Software For Undeleting Files Free
When you mistakenly deleted files on Mac computer to the trash, and you didn't empty the trash, you can undelete them from your Trash for free.
If you have the habit of backing up files on Mac computer using the Time Machine, congratulations. When you delete some of them, luckily, you can bring them back immediately from your Time Machine backup. You can follow to Recover Files from Time Machine Backup for a detailed guide.
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