Bandizip

Bandizip creates archived files in various formats. It can open and extract these files for you as well.

PROS

Customization options: When you first install Bandizip, a window opens, asking you which file types you’d like to associate with the program. You can make your selections by checking or unchecking the boxes next to the various options, or you can simply go with the defaults that are already set. You can also go back and adjust your choices at any time.

Clean interface: The interface is clear, so you shouldn’t have any trouble figuring out how to use the various features available. There is also a good Help file to refer to, if you do have questions or get stuck on something.

CONS

Few bugs: We did encounter a few minor issues during testing, including some unclear instructions for how to encrypt a file. There is a step missing, and without taking that step, you won’t be able to enter a password for the selected file. The options didn’t automatically show up in the finder’s right-click menu, making it a slightly more complicated process to open a compressed file or create a new one with the app.

BOTTOM LINE

Bandizip is a free utility, and it’s a powerful option for carrying out all kinds of processes with various compressed file formats. While we did encounter a few minor issues during testing, the program performed well overall, and it offers a nice set of options for customizing your user experience.

Bandizip is ultra-fast file compression software with an easy-to-use interface. It allows you to create your own compressed files such as ZIP, 7Z, TAR, ISO and extract most popular compressed files like RAR. Bandizip can create Zip, ZipX, TAR, TGZ, LZH, ISO, 7Z, EXE and open RAR, ACE, AES, ALZ, APK, ARJ, BH, BIN, BZ, BZ2, CAB, EGG, GZ, J2J, JAR, IMG, IPA, ISZ, LHA, LZMA, PMA, TBZ, TBZ2, TGZ, TLZ, TXZ, UDF, WAR, WIM, XPI, XZ, and Z archives files. This program is able to create split compression files as Zip (zip, z01, z02, 7z.001), Zipx (zipx, zx01, zx02), 7Z (7z.001, 7z.002) and EXE (exe, e01, e02) to certain size, such as 25MB or 700MB. It also can extract the split RAR files (.part1.rar, .part2.rar) created by WinRAR. Bandizip uses the AES-256 encryption which is one of the most secure encryption algorithms when creating the 7z or zipx file format. An archive compressed with Bandizip can be extracted using all kinds of file compression software including WinZip, WinRAR, 7-Zip. Bandizip allows the users to preview compressed contents with right click menu on the Windows Explore. In addition, Users directly see an image file contained in compressed ZIP, RAR, 7Z, LZH or TAR files without extracting. Another advantage of Bandizip is that it fully supports Unicode to ensure international characters are displayed for filenames in archives. Non-English characters such as Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, etc. will be handled properly and it will be extracted without breaking the original filenames.