Multi-part archives

Multi-part archives are single archives split across multiple files — often used to work around upload limits, email attachment ceilings, or older filesystems. Purrchiver opens them as one logical archive, no matter how many parts there are.

Point Purrchiver at any single part and it finds the rest, sorts them correctly, and opens the whole set.

Common multi-part schemes

Scheme	Example filenames	Typical source
Modern RAR multi-part	`archive.part01.rar`, `archive.part02.rar`, …	WinRAR 3+
Legacy RAR multi-part	`archive.rar`, `archive.r00`, `archive.r01`, …	Older WinRAR / DOS RAR
7z multi-part	`archive.7z.001`, `archive.7z.002`, …	7-Zip’s split-volume output
ZIP multi-part	`archive.zip`, `archive.z01`, `archive.z02`, …	Older ZIP tools (rare on Mac)

How to open them

Point Purrchiver at any one of the parts. Drag any single file to the dock, or double-click any single part in Finder.

Purrchiver:

Recognizes the part as belonging to a multi-part set.
Scans the parent folder for the other parts.
Sorts them in the correct order.
Opens them all as a single logical archive.

You don’t need to:

Select all the parts manually (though you can — it works either way)
Concatenate the files yourself
Use any special “join” command
Worry about part numbering

What if a part is missing?

If you open archive.part01.rar but archive.part04.rar is missing from the folder, Purrchiver tells you exactly which part:

This is a multi-part RAR. The following parts are missing from ~/Downloads/: archive.part04.rar. Find the missing part and add it to the same folder, then re-open the archive.

Not “extraction failed.” Not “archive corrupt.” The specific filename you need to find.

What if parts are in different folders?

Purrchiver only scans the parent folder of the file you opened. If your parts are scattered across different folders, move them into one folder first and then open any one of them.

Future versions may offer a “Find missing parts in…” picker if this turns out to be common. Tell us if it is: corey@purrchiver.app.

Creating a multi-part archive

Not supported in v1.0. Purrchiver reads every multi-part scheme listed above but does not yet create split-volume archives. If you need to produce a multi-volume .zip / .7z / .rar set for upload limits or FAT32 transfer, use a tool that supports split-volume writing (Keka or 7-Zip both do); Purrchiver will open the resulting set.

Split-volume write is on the v1.1 roadmap. Tell us if it blocks a workflow you care about: corey@purrchiver.app.

Encrypted multi-part archives

Encrypted multi-part archives extract the same way as single-file encrypted archives. Open any one of the parts; Purrchiver prompts for the password once and unlocks the whole set.

Creating encrypted multi-part archives is part of the same v1.1 split-volume-write work above — not supported in v1.0.

Editing multi-part archives

You can browse and extract from a multi-part archive in v1.0, but you can’t save edits back out as a multi-volume set — Edit-mode save writes a single-file output. If you make changes and save, Purrchiver writes one combined archive (you’ll be prompted to pick a destination filename). The original volume set on disk is left as-is.

Round-tripping edits as a new multi-volume set is part of the v1.1 split-volume-write work.

Common formats Purrchiver multi-parts well

Modern multi-part RAR (.partN.rar) — fully supported, including encrypted.
Legacy multi-part RAR (.r00/.r01/…) — fully supported, including encrypted.
7z multi-part (.7z.001/.002/…) — fully supported.
Split-volume ZIP (.z01/.z02/…) — read support; write support is on the v1.1 roadmap.

Tips

Keep all parts in the same folder. Purrchiver only scans the folder containing the part you opened.
Don’t rename individual parts. Multi-part schemes rely on consistent filename patterns. Renaming archive.part03.rar to part 3.rar breaks Purrchiver’s ability to find it.
When in doubt, pick part 01. Some old multi-part tools expect you to start with part 1 specifically. Purrchiver will find the rest from any part, but if you have a choice, part 1 is the canonical starting point.