File Compression

Numerous file compression formats are being used out there. Rar, Zip, GZip, 7z, etc. And some of them are already supported by MacOS X through build in functionality of the Operating System.

Yet quite a few file (de)compression tools can be found out there – so maybe people are not all that happy with the build in functionality? – my personal favorites The Unarchiver (AppStore - free!) and recently Keka (AppStore or free on the Keka website).

I’m writing this article to point you to a great tool and I’ll show you some very basic usage of the tool. The Keka website as a nice help page with more details.

Free version vs the $1.99 AppStore version

Keka might be free on the Keka website, and if you’re really cheap or poor then that’s the way to go. As a developer I can say though that $1.99 for a tool like this is wel worth it and a nice token of appreciation to the developer of Keka - it’s like getting the developer a beer for his efforts. So if you really like it; get it at the AppStore.

The “Extras“

So what does make Keka different from others?

Well, for starters, Keka compresses and decompresses files. If you never need to archive/compress files to a Zip or something like that then The Unarchiver will be sufficient for your purposes.

Another nice thing is the context menu integration, with that I mean that you can right click (or CTRL + left click) one or more files and/or folders and right away choose “compress” or “decompress” from the “Services” menu for processing through Keka.

Compressing and decompressing …

Option 1: Right click

Right click the directories and/or files you’d like to compress. Select from the menu “Services“ → “Compress with Keka“. That’s all.

Keka - Compress/Decompress through the context menu

Option 2: Drag to Keka

Drag the files and/or directories to the Keka app in your Applications folder. Drop it and Keka compresses the files.

This can be done much easier of course by first dragging Keka to the Dock so it has a more reachable place.

Keka in the Dock - Drag and drop, it's that easy

Advanced settings

Keka does allow you to do some additional settings, for example what your preferred default compression format should be.

The easiest way to reach these settings is by starting Keka like you would any other application. A popup window will appear, keep that one open. Now go to the Keka menu in the top menubar and select the “Preferences…“:

Keka - Go to the Preferences menu

In the upcoming window you can set the default compression format ad the degree of compression. Note that “Ultra” is the highstet you can select, and with current hardware I don’t see much of a reason to go for less:

Keka - Set your default compression type