• BetterZip creates archives in ZIP, DMG, TAR, TGZ, TBZ, TXZ, TZ, Zstandard, Brotli, 7-Zip, XAR, ISO, and – through the external command-line utility – RAR.
• Modify archives in place: add, delete, rename, edit. No need to extract and rebuild.
• Cross-platform compatibility: strip Mac-specific files so the archive looks clean on Windows.
• Edit a file inside the archive in an external app and BetterZip saves the changes back when you're done.

• Open and extract over 30 formats.
• Join split files (.001, .002, …).
• Decode winmail.dat attachments from corporate email.
• Open and modify ePub files (they're really zips with structure).
• Add your own formats with the new user-extensible JSON definitions.

BetterZip 6 adds icon view and column view to the existing flat-list and outline views – so you can pick the layout that fits the archive instead of squinting at one fixed format. Image archives and comic books get a dedicated slideshow / image viewer that runs without extracting anything.

View modes → · Slideshow →

• AES-256 encryption. Don't send sensitive files unencrypted.
• The built-in password manager remembers archive passwords in an encrypted vault and uses them automatically.
• A password generator, like Safari's, suggests strong passwords as you go.
• Generate and verify cryptographic hashes (SHA-256 and friends) so recipients can confirm the archive arrived intact.

• The BetterZip submenu in Finder's contextual menu gives one-click access to every preset.
• The Finder toolbar button compresses or extracts selected items right where they live.
• A Share extension compresses files from inside other apps.
• The Spotlight importer indexes the filenames inside archives so you can find them by name without opening the archive.
• The new Collect Mode builds an archive piece by piece by copying items from anywhere on the system.

A preset captures all the archiving options available: the destination folder, format, encryption, filters, file-renaming rules, conflict resolution policy, and an optional post-processing action – shell script, AppleScript, Automator workflow, or Shortcut. Build a preset once and apply it from menu, toolbar, Finder, Shortcut, Workflow, or the command line.

Keep Thumbs.db, .DS_Store, .git, build artifacts, and other clutter out of your archives – or selectively skip them when extracting. BetterZip 6's filters match by name, path, size, and age, with a quick-filter dialog for one-off rules.

BetterZip is fully scriptable through AppleScript, and it can be automated through Shortcuts actions, a CLI tool for Terminal pipelines and CI, and Automator actions for compress, extract, and test. It plays well with the productivity tools people already use: Hazel, Alfred, LaunchBar, DropZone, and the BetterTouchTool Launcher.

See the automation guide for more details.

The BetterZip Quick Look extension previews the contents of archives in Finder – in the preview pane, in column view, or with the spacebar – without ever launching BetterZip itself. Free for everyone, license or no.