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Finder Sync Extension

The BetterZip Finder extension makes BetterZip’s most-used actions available right inside Finder: in the contextual menu and as a toolbar button.

Enabling the extension

Open BetterZip > Settings > Extensions > Finder and switch on either of the two main checkboxes:

  • Show BetterZip button in Finder windows
  • Show BetterZip menu in Finder’s contextual menus

Turning either one on registers the extension with macOS automatically, so the button or menu should appear in Finder right away.

If they don’t show up, open the standard macOS extension settings as a fallback: System Settings > Login Items & Extensions > Finder Extensions and make sure BetterZip Finder Extension is on. On older macOS versions the same toggle lives under System Settings > Privacy & Security > Extensions.

Contextual menu

Right-click a file or selection in Finder and you’ll find a BetterZip submenu containing:

  • Extract to: a list of destinations: the folder next to the archive (or the archive’s parent folder, when several archives share one) plus every entry you’ve marked for the Finder extension in Settings > Places. Picking one extracts straight to that location.
  • Extract with Preset: every extract preset you’ve defined, shown when the selection contains archives or folders.
  • Compress with Preset: every save preset you’ve defined, shown unless the selection consists only of archives.

When Show additional actions is on, a second group appears under Other Actions:

  • Add Items to New Archive in BetterZip: opens the items in a new BetterZip document so you can keep building the archive interactively before saving.
  • Start collecting items in a new archive: kicks off Collect Mode with the selection as the first batch.
  • Open in BetterZip and Test Validity of Archives: shown when the selection contains archives.

Simpler one-action mode

If your contextual menu feels crowded, turn on Show only the default extract or compress action in Settings > Extensions > Finder. The submenu collapses to a single entry – Extract with BetterZip for archives, Compress with BetterZip for everything else – using your default extract or save preset.

Hide Finder Contextual Menu Icon drops the small BetterZip icon next to the submenu title if you prefer a cleaner look.

Toolbar button

With Show BetterZip button in Finder windows on, a BetterZip button appears in Finder’s toolbar. Click it (with files selected) to get the same submenu as the contextual menu – one click closer than a right-click.

Preset filtering by selection

By default BetterZip tailors the preset list to your selection: only save presets that fit are listed, only extract presets when the selection contains archives or folders. Turn on Always show both types of presets in the settings to see every preset in every menu.

Limiting the extension to specific folders

Turn on Limit the extension to these folders in Settings > Extensions > Finder and add the folders you want BetterZip’s extension to be active in. This is handy when another archive utility owns your contextual menu most places and you’d rather give BetterZip just a few corners of your file system. With the toggle off, the extension is active on every mounted volume.