Mac OS: Unable to expand zip file

Question

Mac OS. I am unable to expand zip file. I have tried this: Unzip in Terminal:

1. Open Terminal.
2. Type unzip and a space, then drag/drop the zip file into the Terminal window.
3. Press Enter and the zip file will be unzipped, storing all files on your computer.

When I try to open the zip file, it reads:

unable to expand (error 1- operation not permitted).

Online, p7zip seems to be recommended. Here are instructions:

You can install it via MacPorts or Homebrew with these commands, respectively:

sudo port install p7zip
brew install p7zip

Then, to unzip it, use:

7za x file.zip

Please explain the steps to enter this code, I don’t know what it means. But I am glad to learn a new thing!

Answer 1

The Mac Archive Utility doesn't allow you to unzip large files, use the command line.

unzip file.zip

Answer 2

I get a similar error with a zip file containing a very large file (5.5GB uncompressed). The error comes when I double-click on the file in the finder. That launches the MacOS Archive Utility, which is what gives the error. In my case it happens after it does the decompression, which takes quite a while.

Unable to expand "zip_file_name_here.zip" into "destination_folder_here".
(Error 1 - Operation not permitted.)

As it turned out, the uncompressed files were hidden away in a temporary directory, and they were fine, so it's some sort of sandbox error or something.

The easy solution for me: Download Stuffit Expander from the Mac App Store. It was able to deal with the file just fine.

Answer 3

Sounds like you either don't have read permission on the zip file itself or write permission on the directory that is is contained in, which is where unzip is trying to create the files extracted.

Answer 4

just change the extension of the file to .RAR and expand it. It should uncompress the file without any problem. This error usually happens when a compression operation of a large folder is interrupted.

Answer 5

I tried using Archive Utility but it was throwing the same error. Wasn't able to expand my file. I used another application (The Unarchiver) which is also free in Appstore. It works fine for me.

Answer 6

I had the same issue with a password protected .zip which may have something to do with it. I was able to open it with Keka but you can probably use any decent file archive tool / unzipper on the app store.