Mac Os X Archive Utility Download Updated

Mac Os X Archive Utility Download

How to Use & Customize Bone Ten'south Congenital-in Annal Utility App

Oct 27th, 2012 10:30 AM EDT

Practise you ever create what in Mac-speak are Archive files? You know, the handy .zippo files that you can create by right-clicking on a file or folder and selecting the option to Compress information technology? In OS X Tiger and older arrangement versions, the action was called Archive . I'll be using the two terms interchangeably.

For our readers who aren't aware of this feature, or who are new to the concept of file compression for storage and distribution, .zip is as old as the hills. I don't know how old the hills are, only creating compressed files has been effectually for a very long time. Information technology is a method for taking a single file or folder-full of files and creating a single, space-saving compressed file with a .zilch extension. It serves every bit a container and is recognized universally by other systems. To excerpt the files and folders from a .nada file, information technology needs to be expanded .

Selecting Compress from the contextual card will create a .zip file from the original binder.

And then, if this feature is "congenital-in" to OS Ten, and seamlessly only works, then what is really doing the work of creating the .zip file and decompressing it to extract the compressed files? One just tends to shrug information technology off and say something to the effect of, "I dunno … Bone X just does it for me."

There are apps which are dedicated to configure, create, and manage these .zip annal files (due east.k.; BetterZip available on the App Store), and there are a number of commands and options that the more advanced users out there can event from the OS X Terminal app. Nevertheless, the no-nonsense utility installed on your Mac is chosen Annal Utility . This awarding is what manages the file compression and expansion activities in Os X.

You are probable to notice Archive Utility appear briefly when expanding a big .zip file. It volition pop onto your Dock, so leap off as soon as it's job has completed.

And then, where is Archive Utility actually located? If it's an app, then why isn't it located in either the Applications or the Utilities folders? Information technology so happens that at that place is some other folder of system-merely "utilities" and other resource hidden away inside the "System Folder" at the root level of your startup drive. It'southward an out-of-site-out-of-listen kind of thing. In fact, you tin can't fifty-fifty search for Annal Utility in Spotlight.

One way Annal Utility can exist plant in Finder is via Go > Computer. Then, select your Mac'south start-up drive, then /System/Library/Core Services/. You volition see the Annal Utility app listed in there.

Archive Utility is plant in the CoreServices folder.

Before I continue, I want to cover my behind by first alarm you that Apple tree makes it hard to discover and do certain things for a reason. They don't want to spend fourth dimension on tech support calls just considering curious Mac users go in and muck nearly things that don't concern them! So, while there are several items in the CoreServices folder that can exist looked at and perhaps fifty-fifty launched to provide some functionality, I wouldn't advise information technology unless yous know what you lot're doing!

When launching the Archive Utility app you won't meet any windows open upwardly on screen. However, you will see the Archive UTILITY menu, and it pops onto your Dock. Information technology's a very simple app to utilize.

In the app's FILE bill of fare, you are able to create an archive (.zip file) manually by selecting individual files or folders. Y'all can't select multiple items to archive. For this you starting time need to place your files and folders into a single folder which you then select for the archive. The resulting .zip file will take on the proper name you give that binder. For example, if you take a number of image files stored in a folder called "Holiday Photos", compressing that folder will produce an archive file called "Vacation Photos.zip." Of course, this is too true whether or non yous use the Archive Utility to create the annal.

Finally, File > Expand Archive lets you manually select archive files to expand. In this case, you can select multiple annal files when prompted, by using the Shift- or Command-click pick methods.

I know… boooring! Proceed going; the interesting features in Annal Utility are institute in its Preferences pane.

I take set up the mode I want Archive Utility to treat my archive and original files.

Looking at the Annal Utility preferences pane, the height one-half governs what actions the app takes when expanding archive files. You can tell Archive Utility where y'all want expanded files to be saved - either on your local storage drives or on servers and drives on your LAN. You lot tin can also betoken what to do with the original archive file. Information technology can be left in place, moved to the trash, or deleted immediately. "Proceed expanding if possible" refers to the expansion of embedded archive files.

The lesser half of the Archive Utility preference pane offers you several options for what you desire washed after compressing a file or binder and where to save the newly created archive file.

By default, when you lot create an archive file the traditional way - from the desktop - the newly created .nil file volition be located in the aforementioned directory every bit the original file or folder. This default behavior cannot be inverse. Nonetheless, you lot have options when using Annal Utility manually to handle the compression. You can set options for saving the annal files to a location of your choice. This can be anywhere on your local drives or on your LAN. You lot can besides select a new destination for the original uncompressed files, or they can be left solitary, moved to the trash, or deleted outright.

Archive Utility allows yous to select which archive format to utilize. The .zip format is the most common format for Mac users.

You can also choose from several archiving formats; the familiar "Goose egg archive (.zip)", a compression format that is fine for only about annihilation, the "compressed archive (.cpgz)," and the "regular archive (.cpio)" These final two are formats used typically in the UNIX environment.

Of all of the options that Annal Utility offers, whichever yous choose depend on your own workflow requirements and how you shop files and archives.

Remember, whatever options you prepare inside the Archive Utility will only use when working inside the app. The default behaviors at the Finder level remain unchanged.

If your workflow and file organization require more than flexibility in how and where files are archived and stored by the native OS Ten compression mechanism, so Archive Utility deserves a look.