If you have a Mac and you want to download plugins on it, which you will later use to build your WordPress based website, then, you should keep in mind the following before starting the process:
The downloading process may vary depending on what browsers you use.
Safari
If you are using Safari as your default browser, it is important to know about the automatic unzipping option, enabled by default.
Safari automatically unzips the downloaded files that are considered “safe”. These safe files include movies, pictures, sounds, PDFs, text documents, and archives.
However, the plugins, in the form of archives, that will be later uploaded to the “Plugins” section of your WordPress dashboard, should not be unzipped but uploaded just as they are.
There are two ways in which you can solve this matter:
a) Disable the automatic unzipping option
In order to do this, take the following steps:
Click on the first tab of the Safari and then, select “Preferences” from the drop-down:
When the “Preferences” menu is open, make sure to uncheck the “Open “safe” files after downloading” option:
Once this is done, you can easily download and then, upload the plugins to the WordPress admin dashboard, because the automatic unzipping will not be enabled anymore.
b) Use Chrome
If you have Chrome installed on your device, then you have another solution.
Since Chrome does not have an automatic unzipping option, you can choose to download the plugins in Chrome. Thus, the plugins (the archives) will be downloaded and saved as they are and you will be able to easily upload them in your WordPress admin dashboard.
This way you can still use Safari to download regular files, that you want to be unzipped automatically and you can use Chrome when you are about to download a file that you do not want to be unzipped, like the plugins for WordPress.
Chrome
As previously mentioned, Chrome does not have an automatic unzipping option, so you should be able to download the plugins without any problems and then, upload them to your WordPress admin dashboard.
Note: In case you have added any extensions that automatically unzip downloaded files, then, it is advised to disable those extensions before downloading the plugins.
Firefox
Although Firefox does not have an automatic unzipping option either, it has an “Open with” option that you should be aware of.
When you download a file, like an archive, with Firefox it might happen that it will be opened using a default application, which can also unzip it.
Thus, in order to make sure that the plugins (as well as other files) that you download on your Mac with Firefox will not be unzipped, do the following:
After you have opened Firefox, access the “Menu” by clicking on the hamburger icon in the top right corner of the browser and then, select the “Options” menu item:
Once the “Options” page is opened, scroll down to the “Files and Applications” section, more specifically, to the “Application” part of this section:
Type “zip” or “zip file” in the search box and when the ZIP file result appears, click on the arrow next to it to open the drop-down with options:
Make sure that either the “Always ask” or the “Save File” option is selected and then, close the page to save the changes you have made.
If you choose “Always ask” then, a pop-up will open every time you download a zip file and you can choose if you want the file opened or saved. In the case of plugins, you should choose “Save file” like this:
If you choose “Save File” then, the zip files that you download, including the plugins, of course, will be automatically saved without any unzipping and you can upload them to your WordPress admin dashboard.
Hopefully, this article was useful for you. If so, please give it a smile below 🙂