Unzip 7z Files on Mac

Published: 22nd of February, 2023

The 7z file format was developed by Igor Pavlov and released in 1999 as an open-source alternative to proprietary archive formats such as RAR and ACE. The format uses a high compression ratio, which can result in significantly smaller file sizes compared to other formats. Additionally, 7z supports encryption, volume spanning, and the ability to store metadata, making it a versatile and flexible format for archiving and distributing files.

Over the years, 7z has become increasingly popular and is now widely supported by many file archiving and compression tools but there is no native support for the format built into your Mac.

To expand 7z files on your Mac using iZip, follow these steps:

•  1. If you haven't already, download and install iZip from izip.com.
•  2. Locate the 7z file you want to expand and right-click on it.
•  3. In the context menu that appears, select "Open With" and then choose "iZip".
•  4. iZip will launch and display the contents of the 7z file.
•  5. To extract the files, select the files you want to extract and click on the "Extract" button in the toolbar. Alternatively, you can right-click on the selected files and choose "Extract" from the context menu.
•  6. In the "Extract Files" dialog box, select the destination folder where you want to save the extracted files and click on "OK".
•  7.iZip will extract the files to the specified destination folder.

iZip browsing a large 7z file on macOS.

It's worth noting that in addition to the method I previously mentioned, you can also extract files by simply dragging them out of the iZip window and dropping them into a folder on your Mac. This can be a convenient way to extract only the files you need without extracting the entire archive, which can be a hassle as extracting the whole contents may take a long time and clutters up your hard drive.

According to the iZip website, the application is designed with privacy in mind and contains no analytics or third-party tracking code. This means that your usage of iZip is not being tracked or monitored by any external parties.

In contrast, some other macOS unarchivers like WinZip and The Unarchiver have been known to include some tracking code in their applications, and this has been reported by some users and media outlets in the past. While the developers of have stated that this code is only used to collect anonymous usage statistics, some users may prefer to use a tool that does not contain any tracking code.

While there are a few alternatives available for extracting 7z files on Mac, it's respect of user privacy, comprehensive archive format support, and advanced features make iZip the best app for the job!