Drag and drop is a first-class workflow in Purrchiver — every action that involves a file has a drag-drop path. (Every action also has a button-based path, for cases where dragging isn’t convenient; see Keyboard shortcuts for those.)
Drop targets
The dock icon
The Purrchiver dock icon accepts:
| Drop this | What happens |
|---|---|
| One archive | Honors your Default action setting (Settings → General): Open in Browse (Loaded session), Extract to parent folder, or Ask each time |
| Two or more archives | Opens the Batch Extract window with all of them queued |
| One or more loose files / folders (no archive) | Opens a Staging session with those items pre-loaded |
| A mix of archives + loose files | Opens one Staging session with everything pre-loaded as files-to-compress (archives in the mix are treated as files, not auto-extracted) |
The dock icon highlights when it accepts what you’re dragging.
The Purrchiver window
When Purrchiver is already open, drop anywhere in the window. Behavior depends on the current state of the window:
If the window is in the Welcome state (no archive open, no staged files):
- One archive → opens it in a new session window (always Browse).
- Two or more archives → opens the Batch Extract window with all of them queued.
- Loose files → switches this window to Staging with those files staged.
- Mixed (archives + loose files) → opens a Staging session with everything pre-loaded as files-to-compress.
If the window has an archive open (Loaded):
- Drop into the right pane (the archive view) → nothing happens. The loaded archive pane is read-only and has no drop handler. To add files you must enter Edit mode first (⌘E), then drop into the right pane. See Editing an existing archive.
- Drop into the left pane (filesystem) → copies/extracts the dropped items into the folder currently shown in that pane. The left pane is the extract/copy target.
(A loaded session window is not itself a drop-to-open dispatch target — dropping an archive on it does not open or route the archive the way the Welcome window does.)
If the window is in Staging (building a new archive):
- Drop into the right pane → adds the dropped items to the staged set being compressed. Archives included — a dropped archive is added to the staged files as-is (it is not opened in a new tab).
Finder windows
You can drag entries OUT of Purrchiver into Finder windows or onto the desktop. Purrchiver uses a drag promise:
- The drag doesn’t extract the file yet.
- The destination shows the file with a “loading” appearance.
- On drop, Purrchiver extracts just the requested entries to the chosen location.
This means you can drag a single file from a 10-GB archive without extracting the whole archive.
Multi-entry drags work too: select several entries and each one resolves its own file promise on drop. Drag the whole selection (the entire archive contents) and Purrchiver rebuilds the folder tree at the destination — the same result as Extract All.
(Drag-promise support covers both single-entry and multi-entry drags out of the app to Finder.)
Finder right-click → Services
The Finder right-click → Services submenu has five Purrchiver entries (Open in Purrchiver / Extract using Purrchiver / Compress using Purrchiver / Compress File using Purrchiver / Encrypt File using Purrchiver) that act on the current Finder selection. They’re invoked from the menu — macOS’s Services menu doesn’t accept drag-drop, so these aren’t drop targets. To drag, use the dock icon or the Purrchiver window instead. See Finder integration for the full list.
Drag direction = intent
In the dual-pane Loaded window, drag direction tells Purrchiver what you mean:
- Right → Left (archive → filesystem) = Extract. Pulls files OUT of the archive into the folder shown in the left pane.
- Left → Right (filesystem → archive) = Add. Adds files to the archive — but the right pane only accepts drops once you’re in Edit mode (⌘E). In read-only Browse mode the right pane doesn’t take drops.
The same rule applies in Staging: drag left-to-right adds files to the new archive you’re building.
You never need to switch modes. Direction conveys intent.
Keyboard equivalents for everything draggable
Every drag-drop gesture has a keyboard alternative. If you’re on a trackpad without good drag affordances, or if you just prefer the keyboard:
| Gesture | Keyboard equivalent |
|---|---|
| Drag archive to dock | File → Open Archive… (⌘O) |
| Drag entries from right to left (extract) | Select entries → Extract… (⌘⇧E) → pick destination |
| Drag files into right pane (add to archive) | Click Add Items… in the right-pane header (the empty-state button is also labeled “Add Items…”) → NSOpenPanel |
| Drag entries to Finder (drag promise) | Select one or more entries → Extract… (⌘⇧E) → pick destination |
| Copy selected entries’ paths | Select entries → ⌘C (copies the paths inside the archive as text, for pasting elsewhere — this is not an in-app extract shortcut) |
Tips
- Drop multiple archives on the dock for batch extract. Faster than opening each archive individually when you just need everything unpacked.
- Drag-drop from the left pane. You don’t have to drag from Finder — the left pane is a full filesystem browser. Dragging from the left pane to the right pane is often faster than alt-tabbing to Finder.
- The dock icon accepts archives even when Purrchiver isn’t running. macOS launches Purrchiver and opens the archive in one motion.