Open SIT files in your browser
StuffIt's archive, how classic Mac files were packed for two decades. Open one right here, see every file and open the ones you need. Nothing leaves your device.
Or drop it anywhere on this page
What you'll see
Your archive opens like a folder, its files listed on the left.
- Listed like a folder • Unpacks only what you pick
- Locked archives • Hidden file names included
- Search • Find any file by its name
- Export • Save as ZIP or Extract all
About SIT
Raymond Lau wrote StuffIt in 1987, while still at high school, and it became the classic Mac's archiver, later sold by Aladdin Systems and then Smith Micro. Mac software, fonts and documents went around the internet as .sit files, often wrapped in BinHex as .sit.hqx to travel by email.
A Mac file has two parts, its data and its resource fork, which holds an old app's code, a font's outlines or a document's icon, along with its type and creator. StuffIt packs both, with methods that changed from version to version, up to StuffIt 5's Arsenic. Macs no longer come with an app that opens it, and Windows and phones open none.
Filepeek reads StuffIt 1 to 5 with a reader of its own, lists its files like a folder and opens the one you pick, each Mac name read right. A file's resource fork comes along as the ._ file Macs read back, its type and creator are in Show details, and Save as ZIP keeps them all. StuffIt X's .sitx is another format and doesn't open.
StuffIt archive
.sit
Format
- MIME type
- application/x-stuffit
- Made by
- Raymond Lau
- Released
- 1987
Inside the file
- Methods
- RLE, LZW, Huffman, LZ77 and Arsenic
- Keeps
- Both forks, type and creator
- Versions
- StuffIt 1 to 5
- Names
- In Mac Roman
Opens in every browser
Filepeek lists and unpacks StuffIt archives with a reader of its own in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari. No browser opens them by itself.
- YouChromeOpens through Filepeek
- YouEdgeOpens through Filepeek
- YouFirefoxOpens through Filepeek
- YouSafariOpens through Filepeek
Apps that open SIT
- WindowsNo app built in opens it
- MacThe Unarchiver and StuffIt Expander
- iPhone and iPadNo app built in opens it
- AndroidNo app built in opens it
Questions
How do I open a .sit file on Windows?
Drop it here. Filepeek lists its files like a folder and opens any of them, and Save as ZIP makes a ZIP that Windows opens.
How do I open a .sit.hqx file?
Drop it here as it is. Filepeek unwraps the BinHex and opens the StuffIt archive inside.
What are the ._ files beside my files?
Each holds a file's resource fork, kept the way macOS keeps one on disks it doesn't own. A Mac puts it back with its file when you copy both, and anywhere else you can leave it out.
Can I open a password protected SIT?
Yes, from StuffIt 5's archives on. Filepeek asks for the password when you open a locked file, and it stays on your device. Files locked by older StuffIts don't open.
Can I open a StuffIt X file?
No. StuffIt X's .sitx is a different format from SIT, which Filepeek doesn't open. The Unarchiver opens it on a Mac.