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age encryption

Most Mac archivers can only encrypt a ZIP (and maybe a 7z). Purrchiver adds age — a modern, passphrase-based encryption wrap that works over any container or file. It’s the reason Purrchiver can hand you an encrypted .tar.zst, .iso, Apple Archive, or single stream that no other Mac App Store archiver produces.

What age is

age (“aghe”, like the Italian for ages) is a small, modern file-encryption format and tool. Purrchiver uses its passphrase mode: you choose a passphrase, and the output is a single <name>.age file. There are no key files to manage and no key servers — it’s symmetric and entirely offline, consistent with Purrchiver’s no-network promise.

Why it’s the universal wrap

Built-in archive encryption only exists for a few formats. age sidesteps that by encrypting the finished file rather than the format’s internals — so it applies to everything:

  • A compressed tar — archive.tar.zst → archive.tar.zst.age
  • A disk image or data ISO — disk.iso → disk.iso.age
  • An Apple Archive — bundle.aar → bundle.aar.age
  • A single stream or any lone file — report.csv → report.csv.age

When you pick a container that has no built-in encryption in the Create Archive sheet, Purrchiver offers age as the encryption option. For a lone file, the Encrypt verb does the same thing in one step.

Opening an age file

Double-click or drop a .age file on Purrchiver and it prompts for the passphrase, then opens the decrypted inner container so you can browse and extract its contents — it doesn’t drop a decrypted file next to the original.

To restore the inner file to a sibling next to the .age (written with its real name), use Tools → Decrypt… (or the “Extract using Purrchiver” Finder Service) instead. If the inner file is itself an archive, open it as usual afterward.

Recipients who don’t have Purrchiver can open your .age file with any age-compatible tool — the reference age CLI or rage — on macOS, Linux, or Windows. The format is an open standard, not a Purrchiver lock-in.

Free vs. the unlock

  • Decrypting an age file (and opening one you receive) is free.
  • Creating an age-encrypted file is part of the one-time $9.99 unlock — like all encryption authoring. See What’s free vs. the unlock.

Caveats

  • The recipient needs an age-capable opener. When you pick age, the Create sheet notes inline: “Encrypts any format, including ones other tools can’t. Recipients need Purrchiver or an age-compatible tool (age / rage) to open it.” Unlike a ZIP, a .age file won’t open in Finder’s Archive Utility — if you need maximum compatibility instead, use an encrypted ZIP.
  • Passphrase rules match the rest of the app — see Encrypted archives for the password model and best practices. There’s no passphrase recovery: if you lose it, the data is gone.