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Open Package Contents of PKG Files (.mpkg) file and wish to inspect its contents prior to initiating an install, OS X provides a handy utility that will dump out the files for your inspection.
As OS X users, we are familiar with the fact that applications are, in reality, complex folders masquerading as packages. OS X recognises application packages and assigns them their respective icons. “Show Package Contents” is a contextual menu item that provides access to an application’s inner workings and its resources.
A program’s installer package contains everything necessary to install it on a Mac. The installation is initiated by double-clicking the file. These files can only be executed on a Mac, not a Windows computer.
How to Open Package Contents of PKG Files on Windows PC
To access Package Contents, software is required. On Windows, the free 7zip file compression utility is ideal for decompressing PKG files. The following is the procedure for opening Software Installer packages: Install and launch 7zip, and then choose the PKG file. If it contains a Payload file, double-clicking on that Payload file will open the package’s contents.
For macOS Installer-compatible PKG files (InstallAssistant.pkg), we must right-click and select Open Inside * from this menu. After opening the Package Contents of PKG Files, extract the files to any Windows folder.
How to Open Package Contents from Terminal on Mac
There are numerous ways to open PKG files on a Mac, with Terminal commands being one of the most common. Additionally, we can use different commands depending on the type of pkg file we’re working with!
The “pkgutil” command can be used to expand the contents of a Software Installer PKG file that uses the PKG file extension. This is useful for examining the file’s contents or extracting the contents to a directory
To get started, Terminal must be opened. You can accomplish this in one of two ways: either through Spotlight search or by selecting Applications and navigating to the Utilities folder before selecting Open Terminal. Next, we use the “cd” command to navigate to the folder containing the PKG file and the “pkgutil” command to extract the PKG file to the “Package content” directory.
FAQ
How do I view the contents of a PKG file on a Mac?
When you right-click an application on a Mac, a menu appears with the option to “Show Package Contents.” This is relevant for apps. There is a method for displaying the contents of a pkg file, but it requires using the terminal. Simply enter the command pkgutil —expand /path/to/package.
Why can’t I unzip a file on a Mac?
You can utilize the Mac search bar in the upper-right corner and begin typing Terminal. Simply click on it to launch the programme. Enter “unzip” followed by a space, and then drag the zip file into the Terminal window. When you press the Enter key, the zip file will be unzipped and all files will be stored on your computer.