When you launch the StuffIt Expander application, the Expansion Tile will appear. If you click on this Tile, you will be prompted for files to expand.
Some archives like StuffIt X (.sitx) are automatically associated with StuffIt Expander. You can expand them by double-clicking the file in the Finder. Expander will launch and expand the file, then quit. StuffIt Expander will put the expanded files in the same location as the archive. (This setting can be changed in the Preferences.)
Tip: You can change the File Associations in the StuffIt Expander Preferences.
Note: If you have older versions or multiple copies of StuffIt Expander, you should remove the other copies.
You can also expand files by dragging and dropping them on the application icon, or the Expander icon in the OS X Dock. Expander will launch and expand the file, then quit. StuffIt Expander will put the expanded files in the same location as the archive.
Tip: You can keep StuffIt Expander always accessible in the OS X Dock. Just launch StuffIt Expander, then right-click or control-click on the StuffIt Expander icon in the OS X Dock. From the pop-up menu, select "Options->Keep in Dock."
Tip: You can expand more than one file at a time by dragging multiple items onto StuffIt Expander.
When StuffIt Expander is running, just drag files onto the Expansion Tile. The files will be expanded into the same location as the archive.
Note: If, when expanding a file from an archive to a location on your disk, StuffIt Expander finds that a file with the same name already exists in the selected destination, you will be prompted to select which of the two files you would like to preserve.
StuffIt Expander has progress bar that appears over the main Expander window. To cancel an operation. Click the "X" to the right of the progress bar.
Once you've expanded files from an archive, you may not need the archive in which they were packaged any longer and can delete it. In the Preferences, you can configure Expander to automatically discard the archive after expansion.
If there is a "package within a package" that Expander recognizes, it will continue to expand the resulting files.
StuffIt Expander can join several types of segmented files. To join a segmented file, you must have all of the segments in the same location (ie: a folder). To join the segments into a single file, drag only the first segment of the set onto StuffIt Expander. When Expander is finished joining the segments, the resulting file will be located in the same directory as the original segments (this setting can be changed in the Preferences).
If the segmented archive you want to expand is stored on multiple CDs or DVDs, you can expand the segments one by one. First insert the disk that contains segment 1, and then drag and drop that segment onto StuffIt Expander. After Expander has finished expanding the first segment, you will be prompted to insert the disks that contain the remaining segments in the set.
StuffIt Expander will prompt you to provide the passphrase before encrypted files can be expanded. If you do not have the correct passphrase you will not be able to access the files stored in the encrypted archive.
StuffIt Expander will automatically notify when a file name collision detected for each file that already exists in the destination folder. You will be prompted to "Skip" or "Replace" the file. You can also click "Stop" to cancel the operation. If you uncheck the "Apply to All" option you will be prompted again when the next file collision is detected.
What's in the Package?
While StuffIt Expander can help you to open the compressed, archived, or encoded files (the packages) that you encounter, once the package is opened, Expander's job is done. StuffIt Expander has no knowledge of what's inside the archive. You will still need an application installed on your Macintosh to view, edit, or otherwise work with the files you have expanded.