Change directory to the location of the selected file(s)/folder(s) within the same parent folder of the selected file(s)/folder(s).In this first Automator Quick Action, as coded, the example shell script code will:

Using how by default in Finder a ZIP archive is created in macOS, only recursing the relative path from within the PWD, the same applies to the example shell script code used in the first Run Shell Script action of the Automator Quick Action shown below. You will still have to grant the permission the next time they run, but not there after. Go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General, click the lock to make changes, enter your credentials, click the Allow button. NOTE: If rar and unrar are not properly signed it will throw an error message. NOTE: In order for these workflows to work, Finder must be given Full Disk Access in: System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy The two Automator Quick Actions work as advertised with the settings as shown in the images of the workflows, further below, so use the same settings! If a selected file/folder to be archived is not readable it will throw an error message and an incomplete RAR archive may be created. As such, it’s still important to know how to handle RAR files.The example shell script code used in this answer was tested under macOS Catalina 10.15.4.Īs coded the location the RAR archive is to be created/extracted to must be readable/writable to you with normal privileges, otherwise the RAR archive is created/extracted on your Desktop. The 7-Zip format is one popular option, but it’s far from the standard. That said, we’ve come a long way since the days of ZIP and RAR, and we now have better ways to compress, encrypt, and transfer files. The RAR format was created to address some flaws in the ZIP format and comes with several benefits: smaller file sizes, the ability to split a RAR into multiple chunks, and error recovery. RAR stands for Roshal ARchive, named after Eugene Roshal, the Russian software engineer who created the format. That way, you only have to put one file up for download (or attach one file to an email), and receivers only need to download one file, instead of many separate ones. Both are 'archive' file formats meant for compressing many individual files into one single file. If you already know this, or if you just don’t care, feel free to skip down to the next section for the actual instructions.Ī RAR file is similar to a ZIP file.

Unrar osx