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Finder integration

Purrchiver registers three items in the macOS Services menu — so you can act on a Finder selection without leaving the window you’re in. No setup required; they appear automatically the first time you launch Purrchiver. macOS controls visibility per-item under System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → Services.

The three Services

Right-click a file or folder in Finder → Services (you may need to scroll to it), or use the active app’s menu bar → app-name → Services:

ItemWhat it does
Open in PurrchiverSmart dispatch. Opens an archive in Browse, opens multiple archives in Batch Extract, opens any non-archive selection in a new Compress staging window. The right default if you’re not sure which verb you want.
Extract using PurrchiverForce-extract. Each selected archive extracts to its sibling folder (~/Downloads/photos.zip → ~/Downloads/photos/). One Purrchiver window opens with the queue + progress bar. Available only when every selected item is an archive.
Compress using PurrchiverForce-compress. The selection opens in a new Compress staging window — pick a format, an optional password, and hit Create. Works on any selection (files, folders, or even other archives if you want to nest them).

All three Services run in-process inside Purrchiver itself — no separate extension to install or enable. They’re declared via the standard NSServices array in Purrchiver’s Info.plist, the same pattern Keka and most native Mac apps use.

Finder right-click Services submenu on a .zip file

Keyboard shortcuts

Purrchiver ships no default shortcuts on the Services — assigning them is up to you. Open System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → Services, scroll to the Files and Folders group, and click “add shortcut” next to any Purrchiver item.

We don’t default to anything because the obvious choices (⌃⇧X for Extract, ⌃⇧C for Compress) would collide with other archive utilities people may have installed. Your machine, your bindings.

Set Purrchiver as the default app for an archive format

Double-clicking an archive in Finder uses your default app for that file type. To make that default Purrchiver:

  1. Right-click an archive file in Finder.
  2. Choose Get Info (⌘I).
  3. Expand Open with.
  4. Choose Purrchiver from the dropdown.
  5. Click Change All… to apply to every file with this extension.

Repeat per format. The most common ones to set:

  • .zip
  • .rar
  • .7z
  • .tar.gz / .tgz
  • .tar

What happens on double-click is controlled separately by Settings → General → Default action on archive open — see below.

Hiding specific Services

To hide any of the three items from the Services menu, open System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → Services, find the item under Files and Folders, and uncheck it. macOS owns this list — Purrchiver doesn’t have its own per-item toggle pane.

To hide ALL three at once, uncheck each of them in the same Services list — there’s no single master toggle, because they’re declared in-process rather than as a separate extension.

Default double-click behavior

In Settings → General, you can choose what happens when you double-click an archive in Finder (assuming Purrchiver is the default):

  • Open in Browse — opens Purrchiver in Browse mode so you can inspect contents before extracting. The safe default; matches what most users expect from a double-click.
  • Extract to parent folder — bypasses Browse, extracts directly to a sibling folder. Fastest if you treat archives as “open this so I can use the files.”
  • Extract to Downloads — like above, but always extracts under ~/Downloads/ regardless of where the archive lives.
  • Ask each time — shows a small dialog with all three options. The right choice if you do a mix.

The Extract using Purrchiver Service ignores this preference — it always extracts to the sibling folder. The preference only affects double-click and drag-to-dock dispatch.

Tips

  • Use “Open in Purrchiver” by default. The smart dispatch is right more often than not, especially for mixed selections.
  • Use “Extract using Purrchiver” for batches. Select 5 RARs in Finder → right-click → Extract using Purrchiver. They all extract in one Batch Extract window with per-row progress.
  • Use “Compress using Purrchiver” when you want a sheet, not a Finder shortcut. It opens the Create Archive sheet directly; no clicks through staging first.