Features, one tab at a time
Everything the app does, grouped the way a buyer evaluates it. Click through the tabs; each stands alone.
Feature tabs
Three ways to compress
- Drop on the window: the format, level and options shown in the main window are used. The window is small and can stay in a corner.
- Drop on the Dock icon: same as above, no window needed. Right-click the Dock icon to switch format without opening the app.
- Finder Quick Action / Services: select files, right-click, Compress with Keka. Assign a keyboard shortcut in System Settings › Keyboard.
Compression level runs from Store (no compression, fastest) to Ultra. 7z Ultra with a solid block is the tightest but can take minutes on a large folder; Normal is the sensible default. Multi-threading is on by default and uses all cores.
What extraction looks like
Double-click (if Keka owns the type), drop on Keka, or use the Finder menu. By default the archive unpacks into a folder next to it; you can instead choose a fixed destination, extract to the same folder without a wrapper, or be asked every time. Options include deleting the archive after a successful extraction and opening the result in Finder.
Multi-part archives (.7z.001, .part1.rar, .zip.001) are joined automatically when all parts are present. Password-protected archives prompt once per job; the {VER} update improved password-encoding detection for archives made on Windows with non-Latin characters.
Passwords and volumes
- 7z: AES-256; option to encrypt file names so the listing is hidden until the password is entered.
- Zip: Zip 2.0 (legacy, opens everywhere) or AES-256 (needs 7-Zip, WinZip or similar on the other end).
- Split: choose a volume size in MB or GB; common presets for email and FAT32. Parts are numbered and rejoined on extraction.
- Verify: an option to test the archive after creation.
Passwords are never written to disk by Keka. Choose a long passphrase: AES-256 is only as good as the password in front of it.
Living in Finder
Keka registers as an opener for every archive type it knows. KekaExternalHelper, a small free add-on, makes it the default for those types system-wide in one click so double-clicking a .rar just works. The Quick Action appears in the right-click menu and in the Finder toolbar; the Services entry appears in every app that has a Services menu.
Metadata handling matters for cross-platform sharing: Keka can strip resource forks and .DS_Store files, which removes the __MACOSX folder Windows users complain about. There is also a “Keep Keka open” toggle and an option to quit after the last job.
Beyond the Mac app
Keka for iOS: a separate paid app that opens and creates archives in Files on iPhone and iPad, with the same encryption options. Not required for the Mac app.
KekaExternalHelper: free helper (v1.2.0) for setting default apps and for some sandboxing limitations of the App Store build.
Source: the app is open source on GitHub under the developer’s account, with issues and releases public. Localizations are contributed by the community; 29 languages currently.
Command line: Keka itself has no CLI, but the bundled 7zz binary inside the app package can be called from scripts, and Homebrew installs the app with brew install --cask keka.
Feature matrix
| Capability | keka.io (free) | App Store ($6.49) |
|---|---|---|
| All create and extract formats | Yes | Yes |
| AES-256 encryption, hidden names | Yes | Yes |
| Split volumes | Yes | Yes |
| Finder Quick Action & Services | Yes | Yes |
| Automatic updates | In-app Sparkle updater | Via App Store |
| Sandboxed | No | Yes (helper needed for some defaults) |
| Supports the developer | Donation optional | Yes |
| Browse inside archives | No | No |
| Create RAR | No | No |
What is missing
An archive browser (open, preview and pull one file without extracting), RAR creation, a built-in preview of archive contents in Quick Look, cloud-drive integration, and any kind of scheduling or automation beyond Finder actions and the bundled binaries. None of these are on the public roadmap; the developer keeps the scope narrow on purpose.