Oka Unarchiver, a fast, simple, and powerful compression tool [sponsor]

Ever receive a ZIP file? RAR? LZIP or CPIO? Probably the first, maybe the second (ever hear of the others?) — or have you ever had to send compressed data to someone (maybe because of those annoying mailbox limits imposed by most email providers)? If you’re ever compressing or decompressing files (zipping & unzipping), you’ll definitely want to check out this week’s sponsor of ad-free MDM Deals, Oka Unarchiver. MDM Deals fans can download and unlock it completely free for a limited time, so read on to learn more!

Now I know that macOS comes with a built-in zip/unzip tool and so you may be inclined to stop reading–don’t. Instead, ask yourself: could a developer obsessed about compression/decompression tools make one that’s better than Apple’s? Of course (just like developers make better calendars, better email, better notes, etc.) — and Oka Unarchiver is exactly what you’d expect when a developer sets out to make a great tool.

It is super fast. To test Oka Unarchiver, I threw a nearly 7 GB folder at it containing 9,844 items (mix of folders, docs, pics, and *lots* of audio recordings). How long did the built-in macOS tool take to zip it? Nearly 5 minutes, but Oka Unarchiver handled it in less than 3 1/2 minutes–over 26% faster than Apple’s basic tool.

How about unzipping? Taking that same file (now zipped), the macOS system took one minute and 17 seconds to unzip it while Oka Unarchiver handled it in less than a minute–in fact, 24% faster.

So already it’s faster than Apple’s utility, but the developer has gone further to ensure it can handle basically any compressed file you throw at it. It supports decompressing ZIP, ZIP, RAR, 7Z, TAR, GZIP, BZIP2, x7, LZIP, ACE, ISO, CAB, PAX, JAR, AR, CPIO, and more! It compresses to the most popular formats: ZIP and 7Z.

Then there’s a load of features that you’d expect in a dedicated compression tool that don’t exist in the macOS utility, like previews of files even before they’re unzipped (nice!), batch processing (just drag and drop, press start, and done), password-protecting files you compress, unzipping password-protected files, and even remembering the passwords used to unzip files so they’re always accessible even if the passwords are long-forgotten.

Oka Unarchiver is free to download on the Mac App Store where it averages 4.4 stars and has over 430 reviews. (Oka Unarchiver is also on iOS, averaging 4.7 stars with 550+ reviews). And I’m so excited to tell you that when I asked the developer to provide a discount for you fans, he made the VIP version 100% free, for a limited time!

Just download Oka Unarchiver on the Mac App Store, click “VIP” in the upper right corner, and choose the lifetime unlock option which is free until October 14th. Act fast so you don’t miss out!

My special thanks to Oka Unarchiver for sponsoring MDM Deals this week!