Content

• Steps
• Advice
• Warning

Today's wikiHow teaches you how to open a ZIP file (compressed folder) to view content without using WinZip or any other paid program that has the same functionality.

Steps

Method 1 of 3: Use built-in software

1. 

   Double-click the ZIP file. In Mac OS X, Ubuntu Linux, Windows XP or later, when you double-click a ZIP file, a new window will appear. You can copy the contents of that window to another folder.
   • When you double-click a ZIP file, OS X creates a folder right next to the archive, but doesn't automatically open it.

2. 

   
   
   Right click on the ZIP file. For Windows and Linux operating systems, you can right-click on the ZIP file and choose “Extract All…” or “Extract Here”. The “Extract All…” option allows you to set a path for the extracted folder, while “Extract Here” will unzip the folder and save it in the same current folder as the ZIP file. advertisement

Method 2 of 3: For Mac operating systems

1. 

   
   
   Locate the ZIP file. You can enter the name of the file into the Finder application (search). You will see the file with the extension ".zip".
   • On Mac operating systems, ZIP files are called "zipped" folders.

2. 

   
   
   
   
   Double-click the ZIP data file. After you double-click, the compressed folder will immediately start copying its contents to a regular folder in the same location (off-screen for example).
   • The time it takes to copy depends on the size of the archive.

3. 

   
   
   Double-click the newly created folder. This folder has the same content as the compressed folder. You can see the uncompressed data here. advertisement

Method 3 of 3: For Windows operating systems

1. 

   
   
   Locate the ZIP file. You can enter the name of the file in the Start menu search bar on the left-hand corner of your computer screen.
   • If you are using Windows 7 or earlier, you need to click the button first ⊞ Win in the left corner will open the search function.

2. 

   Right click on the ZIP file. Then from the compressed folder a drop-down menu with options for file manipulation will appear.
   • You can also double-click on the archive if you just want to see what's inside it.

3. 

   Click an option Extract All. This option is near the top of the drop-down menu.

4. 

   Click ExtractThis button is in the lower right corner of the dialog box. Then the content in the ZIP file will be extracted to a regular folder in the same location as the compressed folder.
   • You can also click Browse to select a new path for the extracted folder (eg "Documents" folder or your desktop).

5. 

   Double-click the extracted folder. All the content compressed in the ZIP file is located in this folder. You should now be able to see your uncompressed data. advertisement

Advice

• While the .zip folder is easy to open, the files with the .rar or.7z extension require you to use a support program, such as the 7-zip software.

Warning

• If you plan to download any software, do your homework before downloading.