Pacifist overview

Pacifist opens up .pkg installer packages, .dmg disk images, .zip, .tar. tar.gz, .tar.bz2, .pax, and .xar archives and more, and lets you extract or install individual files out of them. This is useful if you need to install just one file out of a package instead of the entire package (for example, if you deleted your Preview application and need to reinstall it, but not the whole operating system), or if you want to inspect a downloaded package to see what it will do before installing it. Pacifist can also load some archive types over HTTP, in case you want to extract just a single file from a large .zip archive without waiting for the entire archive to download. Finally, Pacifist can examine the kernel extensions installed in your system to let you see what installer installed them, and whether the installer was made by Apple or a third-party.

What's new in version 4.1.4

Updated for macOS Tahoe.
Improved accuracy when parsing and extracting images from asset catalogs.
Miscellaneous bug fixes.

View older Pacifist versions

4.6

(121 Reviews of Pacifist)

Comments
User Ratings

Derekcurrie

Dec 7, 2023

4.1.0

5.0

Version: 4.1.0

BTW: The dev's website is oddly still old HTTP vs encrypted HTTPS. Therefore, buying Pacifist looks a bit scary do to no encryption of your credit card ID, etc. I personally use PayPal for transactions, which is always encrypted and therefore didn't care. If the dev is reading this, PLEASE move up to HTTPS so transactions are clearly safe. As a specialist in Mac security, I know hackers, ISPs and eventually the government are watching. Encrypt everything. 😇

Registering: Having just bought Pacifist at the dev website, I ran into a bug on my system whereby hitting any of the 'Register' buttons results in a blank popup window. Scrolling down the window only reveals more blank. I don't know what's wrong but, don't do that. Instead, simply double-click the "pacifist-license" file you downloaded after paying for Pacifist. All done!

Vitaly

Feb 27, 2022

4.0.3

0.0

Version: 4.0.3

neither 4.02 nor 4.03 works on macOS 12.3 beta but 4.01 does work

CharlesS

Nov 8, 2021

4.0

Version: 4.0

Pacifist 4.0 is (finally) here! Sorry for the long wait; this was a complete rewrite in Swift, which turns out to take a while when your codebase is as large as Pacifist's was. It's ready now, though :-) This version is fully compatible with all macOS from Yosemite up through Monterey, and will not suffer from the problems the QuickLook plugin from 3.x had on Big Sur and above. It's also quite a bit prettier. :-)

chukovskij

Apr 6, 2021

3.6.2

Version: 3.6.2

> works ok but the quick look plugins tells that I'm not registered and shows annoying countdown Update: I got a reply from the support team, quick look plugin registration issue is Big Sur version related and Pacifist team is working on the fix. So the project is still alive, but their support could respond rather slowly. In general, I like the app and mostly use its quick look plugin for archives preview in finder.