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PKG (macOS installer) file format

.pkg  ·  package (xar variant)  ·  introduced 2005 by Apple

What is a PKG (macOS installer) file?

macOS .pkg installer files are xar archives containing a Distribution.xml, scripts, and a Payload (a cpio.gz of the files to install). Apple's Installer.app and the pkgutil command-line tool drive the install process. PKG can be cryptographically signed and notarized by Apple.

Most readers reach this page after double-clicking a .pkg file and finding their operating system unsure what to do with it. The good news: PKG (macOS installer) is a well-understood format with mature tooling on every major platform. It is supported in one click by mainstream archivers on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

How to extract a PKG (macOS installer) file

Opening a .pkg file is straightforward on every modern operating system. The exact steps depend on which platform you are on:

On Windows

  1. Locate the .pkg file in File Explorer.
  2. Right-click the file. If you have 7-Zip installed, choose 7-Zip → Extract Here. On Windows 11 the built-in extractor handles ZIP, 7z, RAR and several other formats directly through Extract All…
  3. If prompted, pick a destination folder and click Extract.
  4. The extracted files appear in a folder next to the original archive.

On macOS

  1. Find the .pkg file in Finder.
  2. Install The Unarchiver from the Mac App Store, or Keka for both creating and extracting.
  3. Right-click the file → Open With → The Unarchiver (or just double-click after Unarchiver is set as the default).
  4. The extracted folder appears next to the archive.

On Linux

  1. Use your file manager: right-click the archive → Extract Here (file-roller on GNOME, Ark on KDE).
  2. On the command line, run one of: 
    7z x archive.pkg    # works for almost any format
  3. The files appear in the current directory.

How to create a PKG (macOS installer) file

To pack files into a .pkg archive, you typically need an archiver that supports writing this format. Not every tool can create every format — for example, only WinRAR can create real RAR files. The sidebar lists the software known to read and write PKG (macOS installer).

On the command line, the canonical create command is:

# Use 7-Zip, PeaZip, or the format's reference tool to create .pkg files.

If you regularly create archives at scale, a dedicated archive automation suite can wrap this command in scheduled jobs, integrity checks, and offsite replication.

Strengths

  • Native macOS installer
  • Codesigning and notarization
  • Pre/post install scripts

Weaknesses and limitations

  • macOS-only
  • Awkward to inspect without xar tooling

Typical use cases

  • macOS application installers
  • Driver and helper tool deployment
  • Enterprise macOS deployment via MDM

Technical details

PKG (macOS installer) uses the xar (eXtensible ARchive) algorithm and is identified on disk by the magic byte sequence 78 61 72 21. The standard MIME type is application/vnd.apple.installer+xml. The format is an open specification and is free for any use.

Frequently asked questions

Is PKG (macOS installer) safe to open?

Archive files are containers — they are only as safe as what they contain. A .pkg from a trusted source is fine; one received from a stranger can hold malicious executables, scripts, or files engineered to exploit bugs in your archiver. Always keep your archiver updated, and never run unknown executables that come out of an archive. A safe workflow is to extract into a sandbox and scan the contents before opening anything.

What is the maximum file size?

Modern implementations support archives in the multi-terabyte range. The practical limit is your filesystem (FAT32 caps at 4 GB; ext4, NTFS, APFS, and exFAT all comfortably handle multi-TB files).

Can I password-protect a PKG (macOS installer)?

Some archivers can wrap PKG (macOS installer) files in an encrypted container, but the format itself does not always include built-in encryption. Check your archiver's documentation.

How does PKG (macOS installer) compare to other formats?

See our format comparison pages such as ZIP vs 7z, ZIP vs RAR, and tar.gz vs tar.xz for side-by-side feature tables.

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