If you are one who frequently downloads compressed files and folders on your Mac, such as zip and rar, you’ll often end up with a folder full of unneeded archived files. This is because archives automatically remain on your computer even after expanding them.
You can, of course, manually delete these when done, but it will save you more time if you could automatically move archive files to trash or delete them after expanding.
So how can we change this default behavior in Mac OS? It’s actually pretty simple.
1. Open Finder and press “Command + Shift + G” to open “Go to Folder.” Paste in the line below and press enter.
/System/Library/CoreServices/
2. Look for “Archive Utility” and double click on it.
3. From the Archive Utility menu (in the menu bar) go to Preferences. This will open the Archive Utility Preferences window.
4. From the “After expanding” drop-down menu, choose a new option. By default it’s set to “leave archive alone,” but you can change it to “move archive to Trash” or “delete archive.”
Quit Archive Utility and you’re done. Now those archive files will be automatically moved to Trash after expanding. This means less work for you.
Image Credit: NFSA Australia
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Charnita Fance
Charnita has been a Freelance Writer & Professional Blogger since 2008. As an early adopter she loves trying out new apps and services. As a Windows, Mac, Linux and iOS user, she has a great love for bleeding edge technology. You can connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn.
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