Building on macOS

7-Zip can be compiled on macOS for both Intel (x64) and Apple Silicon (arm64) platforms using Clang.

Requirements

Xcode Command Line Tools

Install the Xcode Command Line Tools to get the Clang compiler and build tools:

xcode-select --install

Verify installation:

clang --version
make --version

You don’t need the full Xcode IDE - just the Command Line Tools are sufficient.

Quick Start

Navigate to Source Directory

cd CPP/7zip/Bundles/Alone2

Build for Your Architecture

Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3)
Intel Mac

make -j -f ../../cmpl_mac_arm64.mak

make -j -f ../../cmpl_mac_x64.mak

Run the Binary

Apple Silicon
Intel

./b/m_arm64/7zz

./b/m_x64/7zz

Build Configurations

Apple Silicon (ARM64)

The ARM64 build includes assembler optimizations:

cd CPP/7zip/Bundles/Alone2
make -j -f ../../cmpl_mac_arm64.mak

Configuration (from var_mac_arm64.mak):

PLATFORM=arm64
IS_ARM64=1
USE_ASM=1
CC=clang
CXX=clang++
MY_ARCH=-arch arm64

Output: b/m_arm64/7zz

Intel x64

cd CPP/7zip/Bundles/Alone2
make -j -f ../../cmpl_mac_x64.mak

Configuration (from var_mac_x64.mak):

PLATFORM=x64
IS_X64=1
CC=clang
CXX=clang++
MY_ARCH=-arch x86_64

Output: b/m_x64/7zz

Architecture-Specific Details

Apple Silicon Optimizations

Apple Silicon builds use ARM64 assembler for performance:

Assembler Features:

Uses GNU assembler syntax with preprocessor
Supported natively by Clang for ARM64
Includes optimizations for LZMA decoding
Hardware-accelerated cryptography where available

The assembler code is located in:

Asm/arm64/LzmaDecOpt.S
Asm/arm64/7zAsm.S

Architecture Variants

You can customize the ARM64 architecture flags in var_mac_arm64.mak:

# Basic ARM64 support
MY_ARCH=-arch arm64

# With specific features
MY_ARCH=-arch arm64 -march=armv8-a

The default configuration uses -arch arm64 which is compatible with all Apple Silicon processors.

Build All Targets

Navigate to the main makefile directory and build everything:

cd CPP/7zip
make -j -f ../../cmpl_mac_arm64.mak  # For Apple Silicon

This builds all UI and Bundle targets.

Specific Build Targets

7zz (All Formats)

cd CPP/7zip/Bundles/Alone2
make -j -f ../../cmpl_mac_arm64.mak

7za (Limited Formats)

cd CPP/7zip/Bundles/Alone
make -j -f ../../cmpl_mac_arm64.mak

7zr (7z Format Only)

cd CPP/7zip/Bundles/Alone7z
make -j -f ../../cmpl_mac_arm64.mak

Shared Library

cd CPP/7zip/Bundles/Format7zF
make -j -f ../../cmpl_mac_arm64.mak

Output: 7z.dylib

Using makefile.gcc

You can also use the generic makefile.gcc for macOS:

cd CPP/7zip/Bundles/Alone2
make -j -f makefile.gcc

This auto-detects the platform but may not use optimal flags.

Compiler Flags

macOS builds use Clang-specific warning flags (from warn_clang_mac.mak):

CFLAGS_WARN = \
  -Werror -Wall -Wextra \
  -Wconversion \
  -Wimplicit-fallthrough

Optimization level: -O2

Universal Binaries

To create a universal binary (both Intel and ARM64):

Build for ARM64

make -j -f ../../cmpl_mac_arm64.mak
cp b/m_arm64/7zz 7zz_arm64

Build for x64

make -j -f ../../cmpl_mac_x64.mak
cp b/m_x64/7zz 7zz_x64

Combine with lipo

lipo -create 7zz_arm64 7zz_x64 -output 7zz_universal

Verify

file 7zz_universal
lipo -info 7zz_universal

RAR Support Options

Control RAR support at build time:

Disable All RAR Support

make -j -f ../../cmpl_mac_arm64.mak DISABLE_RAR=1

Disable RAR Decompression Only

make -j -f ../../cmpl_mac_arm64.mak DISABLE_RAR_COMPRESS=1

RAR decompression codecs have license restrictions. Use DISABLE_RAR_COMPRESS=1 to build a version that can list RAR archives but not decompress them.

Output Directories

macOS builds output to platform-specific directories:

b/m_arm64/ - Apple Silicon builds
b/m_x64/ - Intel builds
_o/ - Default makefile.gcc builds

Installation

Install the built binary system-wide:

sudo cp b/m_arm64/7zz /usr/local/bin/
sudo chmod 755 /usr/local/bin/7zz

Verify:

7zz --version

Troubleshooting

xcrun: error: invalid active developer path

You need to install Xcode Command Line Tools:

xcode-select --install

ld: library not found for -lpthread

On macOS, pthread is part of the system libraries. Ensure you’re using the macOS-specific makefiles:

make -j -f ../../cmpl_mac_arm64.mak

Architecture mismatch error

Make sure you’re using the correct makefile for your Mac:

Apple Silicon: cmpl_mac_arm64.mak
Intel: cmpl_mac_x64.mak

Check your architecture:

uname -m
# arm64 = Apple Silicon
# x86_64 = Intel

dyld: Library not loaded error

If building shared libraries, ensure they’re in a location where dyld can find them:

export DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH=$PWD/b/m_arm64:$DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH

Performance Testing

Benchmark your build:

./b/m_arm64/7zz b

This runs the built-in benchmark to test compression/decompression performance.

Differences from p7zip

7-Zip for macOS is the official port from Igor Pavlov, distinct from the older p7zip project:

7-Zip for macOS (this build):

Current version (26.00 in this source)
Up-to-date with Windows version
Official support from 7-Zip developer

p7zip (legacy):

Last version: 16.02 (outdated)
Independent community port
No longer actively maintained

Next Steps

Test archive operations: ./b/m_arm64/7zz --help
Create archives: ./b/m_arm64/7zz a archive.7z files/
Extract archives: ./b/m_arm64/7zz x archive.7z

Building from Source

SDK & Integration

Contributing

Building on macOS

Requirements

Xcode Command Line Tools

Quick Start

Build Configurations

Apple Silicon (ARM64)

Intel x64

Architecture-Specific Details

Apple Silicon Optimizations

Architecture Variants

Build All Targets

Specific Build Targets

7zz (All Formats)

7za (Limited Formats)

7zr (7z Format Only)

Shared Library

Using makefile.gcc

Compiler Flags

Universal Binaries

RAR Support Options

Disable All RAR Support

Disable RAR Decompression Only

Output Directories

Installation

Troubleshooting

Performance Testing

Differences from p7zip

Next Steps

See Also

​Requirements

​Xcode Command Line Tools

​Quick Start

​Build Configurations

​Apple Silicon (ARM64)

​Intel x64

​Architecture-Specific Details

​Apple Silicon Optimizations

​Architecture Variants

​Build All Targets

​Specific Build Targets

​7zz (All Formats)

​7za (Limited Formats)

​7zr (7z Format Only)

​Shared Library

​Using makefile.gcc

​Compiler Flags

​Universal Binaries

​RAR Support Options

​Disable All RAR Support

​Disable RAR Decompression Only

​Output Directories

​Installation

​Troubleshooting

​Performance Testing

​Differences from p7zip

​Next Steps

​See Also

Requirements

Xcode Command Line Tools

Quick Start

Build Configurations

Apple Silicon (ARM64)

Intel x64

Architecture-Specific Details

Apple Silicon Optimizations

Architecture Variants

Build All Targets

Specific Build Targets

7zz (All Formats)

7za (Limited Formats)

7zr (7z Format Only)

Shared Library

Using makefile.gcc

Compiler Flags

Universal Binaries

RAR Support Options

Disable All RAR Support

Disable RAR Decompression Only

Output Directories

Installation

Troubleshooting

Performance Testing

Differences from p7zip

Next Steps

See Also