Overview

BetterZip lets you open archives without immediately extracting them. This is much faster and you don't have to remove the extracted files and folders after using them. The currently supported archive formats are: ZIP, TAR, GZip, BZip2, ARJ, LZH, ISO, CHM, CAB, CPIO, RAR, and 7-Zip. Such archives usually have these file extensions: .zip, .jar, .war, .ear, .sar, .par, .wsr, .rar, .cbz, .cbr, .tar, .tgz, .tbz, .gz, .bz, .bz2, .cpio, .cpgz, .7z, .lha, .lzh, .arj, .iso, .chm, .cab. The list of supported formats will very likely grow in the near future.

BetterZip can open, extract, and create password protected zip files that are compatible with PKZip2 or WinZip's AES256 encryption. Whenever BetterZip needs a password for an operation a panel will drop down and ask for the password.
Starting with version 1.2 BetterZip can create and save password protected zip files that are compatible with PKZip2. Furthermore, it can create single- and multi-volume 7-Zip files that use strong password encryption and with the help of the external rar command archives in rar format as well.

BetterZip can split archives into multiple volumes.

Add files and folders to existing archives, update or rename files already in the archive, move files around within the archive, and delete files and folders from an archive. Create new folders inside the archive.

Easily search for files and folders by name inside the archive.

BetterZip lets you create «clean» archives without the Mac specific files (Finder configuration or resource forks) to happily exchange with Windows or Linux users. top

Registering BetterZip

You may use BetterZip 30 days free of charge. After that period certain features will be disabled unless you purchase a license key. Once you purchased a key over my secure online shop, you will receive an e-mail with your personal key. Open the Registration panel from the BetterZip menu and copy the name you used during the registration process and the key which will be 4 lines of random looking letters and numbers and paste them into the panel's fields. If everything is okay, your registration number and the date will appear above the name field. Click Continue and enjoy using BetterZip without further interruptions.

If you need more than one license key, reasonably priced family and site licenses are available. top

Creating a New Archive

Drop down the File menu and select New. A new window will open. You can now add files and folders to your new archive. top

Adding Files And Folders to an Archive

Click the Add button on the toolbar or select Add from the File menu. An open panel will drop down where you can select one or multiple files or folders to add to the archive. To add the new items to an existing folder within the archive, select that folder prior to issuing the Add command.

You can also drag files and folders from the Finder into the archive window. If you drop the new items onto a folder they will be added to this folder. The folders are spring loaded like folders in the Finder. top

Renaming Files And Folders

Select the file or folder you would like to rename and select Rename from the Edit menu or press the Return key on your keyboard. You can now rename the selected object like you would in Finder. top

Creating New Folders

Select the folder inside which you would like to create a new folder. If you don't select any object the new folder will be created in the root of the archive. Click the New Folder button on the toolbar or select Create New Folder from the File menu or press the ⌘ ⇧ N on your keyboard. You can now rename the newly created folder like you would in Finder. top

Saving an Archive

Click the Save button on the toolbar or select one of the save commands from the File menu. If you were editing an existing archive, an alert box will ask you whether you really want to save the archive. Saving commits all changes you have made to the archive. This operation cannot be undone, so always think twice before you click Save.
If this is a new archive, you will be presented the Save as panel. This panel has a popup button which lets you select the format you wish to use for saving. Depending on the format's capabilities you can choose whether to save the archive in multiple volumes and whether to use passwords encryption. Some formats let you even specify the compression strength. Better compression always means slower operation. To split the file into mutliple volumes enter the size of the resulting files in the text field and choose a unit (KB, MB, GB) from the popup button. To save as one file leave the text field blank. top

Saving RAR Archives

BetterZip has unrar capabilities included that let you open and extract rar archives. To create and save RAR archives you will have to download the rar commandline tool from the win.rar GmbH web site and tell BetterZip the location where you have installed it. Attention: BetterZip does not include a rar license. You will have to purchase it separately from win.rar GmbH. Open the preferences panel and select the tab Helpers. Click the button Go to the win.rar GmbH web site. You will be taken to the win.rar GmbH web site. Download the rar commandline tool for MacOS X and extract it to any folder (e.g., the Applications folder) on your hard drive. Go back to BetterZip and click the Browse button. Locate the rar command you just installed and click Use RAR. That's it: From now on you can save and create RAR archives as if BetterZip had it built in. RAR archives can be passowrd encrypted and split into multiple volumes. top

Extracting Files And Folders From an Archive

To extract files and folders from the archive just drag them with your mouse into any Finder window or onto the desktop.

Furthermore, there are three extraction functions in BetterZip:

  • 1-Click Extraction: Extracts the whole archive into the archive's parent folder. If the archive sits on the desktop (as is the case too often on my Mac), BetterZip will create a folder named like the archive on the desktop and extract all the files and folders there. Hold down the ⌥ key and click the Extract button on the toolbar or press ⌘ ⌥ R on your keyboard. To make this easier, you can make this the toolbar button's default behaviour. Find this option in the preferences panel. (As if you didn't know that.)
  • Extract the whole archive: If no items are selected in the current archive, the toolbar button and the menu command will be labelled Extract All. You can also hold down the ⇧ key to toggle the toolbar and menu commands to Extract All. A save panel will let you choose the folder to which you wish to extract the files.
  • Extract selected files and folders: If any items are selected in the current archive, the toolbar button and the menu command will be labelled Extract. A save panel will let you choose the folder to which you wish to extract the files. top

Viewing Files From Within an Archive

Select one or more files and click the View button on the toolbar or select View selected files from the View menu or press ⌘ Enter on your keyboard or just double click a file. top

Deleting Files And Folders from an Archive

Select one or more files and folders and click the Delete button on the toolbar or select Delete from the Edit menu or press Delete on your keyboard. top

Cleaning an Archive

What I mean with cleaning is removing Mac specific files and folders from the archive. A Zip file created on a Mac usually contains a lot of hidden files and folders that contain stuff only other Macs understand, e.g., Finder settings and resource forks. A Windows or Linux user can't do anything with those files. Its just garbage for them. If you create Zip files to send to other users and you know that they have «dull little boxes doing dull little tasks», BetterZip lets you clean your archives for them with one click on the Clean button. All Mac specific files will be removed from the archive. An alert box will ask you whether you really want to delete the selected items.

To keep an archive clean while adding new files to it use the mode switch in the status bar below the table. If the Mac icon is blue, the archive is in Mac mode and Mac specific information will be added together with files and folders you add to the archive. If the Mac icon is grey, the archive is in Clean mode and Mac specific information will be filtered out when you add new contents. top

Searching Inside an Archive

Enter any part of the name you are looking for into the search field in the toolbar. The files and folders in the table will be filtered and only matches will be displayed. To cancel the search and display all files and folders again, click the small x-button in the search field. It works similarly to the search field in iTunes or other applications.

You can use all commands when a filter is active, i.e. the search field is not empty. Attention: When you delete a folder all its files and subfolders, currently visible or not, will be deleted. top

The Filesystem Browser

The filesystem browser lets you browse your hard discs and network folders for archives. All other files are filtered out. To open an archive from the file browser simply double click it. It will open the archive in the same window, so if you already have an archive with changes opened, you will be asked to save your changes first.

To open the filesystem browser select Show/Hide Filesystem Browser from the View menu or press ⌘ B on your keyboard. top

The Transcript Drawer

The transcript drawer displays the raw output of the external programs BetterZip uses to compress or extract archives. If BetterZip fails to complete an operation like saving or extracting a file, the transcript will often show the exact reason.

To open the transcript drawer select Show/Hide Transcript from the View menu or press ⌘ T on your keyboard. top

Changing BetterZip's Appearance

BetterZip has two view modes to display an archive's contents:

  • A flat list (⌘ 1)
    All files and folders are shown in a flat list. If you use this mode, you should display the path column. This mode is useful, if you need to sort the files regardless of their position within the folder hierarchy (e.g., by modification date).
  • An outline view (⌘ 2)
    The files are shown in a tree-like list, like the Finder's column view.

You can increase the font size in the table by pressing ⌘ + and decrease it pressing ⌘ -.

You can change which table columns to display. Open the Preferences panel and select the tab Columns. Check the columns that you wish to see and uncheck those you don't want. top