Compressed 'zip' files are widely used as they pack one or more computer files into a single file or folder which takes up less space. It can be a very useful way of sending or storing files. You'll need to unzip them to extract the contents inside. Our short guide explains how to do this.
Jack Schofield | 9th September 2010
How Do I Unzip A Folder Windows 7
Zip files are very common on the internet. You can recognise them because they all end with the ‘.zip' file extension.
Integrates with Windows Task Scheduler. Two-step verification. Complicated setup. Click Extract Files. In the next menu, choose the save location by clicking on the three dots, leave it be if you want it in the same folder as the original. Alternatively, you can also choose Extract Here to immediately save your file in the archive's location or Extract to File Name to make a folder out of the extracted data. How to unzip files on mac computers. Unzipping a file on a mac computer is user-friendly and intuitive. To unzip files on a mac, simply follow the steps below: Double click the zipped file. The file will automatically be decompressed by Archive Utility into the same folder the compressed file is in.
What zip does
Zip is an archiving system that packs together one or more computer files into a single file or folder that takes up less space than the originals. If you want to email someone a collection of files, it's easier to zip them all into one file first. If you want to keep files private, archiving them allows you to encrypt them and add a password to protect them.
Although zip may not be the best archiving system, it's one that most operating systems know how to handle. The format became ubiquitous in the 1990s thanks to the popularity of the WinZip program, which is now owned by Corel.
How to zip or unzip a file
If you have a zip file and you want Windows XP to unzip it, right-click the file and select 'Extract All'. This should bring up the 'Compressed (zipped) Folders Extraction Wizard'. How many gb is minecraft pc. To extract the file or files, click ‘Next' and select a directory or folder where the wizard can send the files. Xbox one reset mac address.
If you want Windows XP to zip a file or a folder, right-click it and choose a ‘Compress' item. Mac OS X works in much the same way, calling it ‘Archive' instead of ‘Compress'.
How To Unzip A Compressed File
Alternatively, you can right-click inside Windows Explorer, select ‘New', create a zip file, and give it a suitable name. Next, use your mouse to select the files or folders you want to compress, hold down the left mouse-button, drag the files to your zip file and drop them on top of it. Repeat this as many times as you like - Windows will add the files to your zip file.
You can also use 'drag-and-drop' to extract files from a compressed folder by dragging them to a different folder or to your desktop. Windows will uncompress them automatically.
Compress to save space
People often compress files to save disk space. Some files can be compressed a lot, and this is true of Microsoft Office's old Word .doc and PowerPoint .ppt files. (The new Microsoft Office file formats already have zip files inside.)
Some types of file cannot be compressed much more, including MP3 music files and photos in the JPG (jpg) format. Sometimes 'compressed' folders of these files can be slightly bigger than the originals.
Most people prefer to download a separate archiving program - these are more powerful and easier to use. Apple keyboard 2012. The free ones for Windows include 7-Zip, PeaZip and IZArc. Most programs, including WinZip, will handle many different archiving formats.
The shareware program WinRAR is efficient and is often used for compressing multimedia files including movies. It can handle the RAR, ZIP, CAB, ARJ, LZH, ACE, TAR, GZip, UUE and ISO formats, amongst others.
Jack Schofield
Jack Schofield is a technology journalist and blogger who covered IT for the Guardian from 1983 to 2010. Before specialising in computing, he edited a number of photography magazines and books. How to make safari my default browser.
This short guide will explain step by step how to open RAR Files in Windows so that you can access the contents of the file.
How do i turn my microphone on. NOTE: the steps in this tutorial are identical if you're trying to open a .DMG or .tar.gz file in Windows as well – so this guide could just as easily be called 'How to Open .RAR, .DMG and .tar.gz Files in Windows' :) Those formats are typically found on Mac and Linux/Unix systems – so being able to open them on a Windows device can be very handy.
- Going into almost no detail at all, a .rar file is a lot like a .zip file. It's one or more files/folders all combined into one file – a RAR. Here's how you open .RAR Files in Windows 10 so you can get to the contents inside.
- Unlike ZIP files, RAR files require software that doesn't come included with Windows itself. Fortunately there's a fantastic, small and free app that does let you open .RAR files. Head over to the 7-Zip download page (link opens in a new window/tab) and download the 7-Zip for 64-bit Windows x64 (Intel 64 or AMD64) version of 7-Zip, unless you're absolutely certain you don't have a 64-bit version of Windows 10 (to find out which you have, follow this short guide).
- Double-click the 7-Zip installer file to install the app. Make sure to install it to the default location – which is in C:Program Files. If you need to install it to another location you can, just make sure to remember exactly where, you'll need to know in an upcoming step.
- After you've installed 7-Zip, double-click (or tap if you have a Windows 10 tablet) the .RAR file you want to open.
- Select More apps from the menu that appears.
- Now select Look for another app on this PC
- When the 'Open With' dialog box appears, double-click your C: drive and then the Program Files folder (as illustrated in the screenshot below).
- Open the Z-Zip folder.
- Select the file 7zFM.exe and then click Open
- 7-Zip will launch and open the .RAR file. Now it's time to extract (copy) the files and folders out from inside the RAR. Select all of the files/folders and then click the Extract button.
- By default, the files and folders will be extracted to the same location the RAR file is in – click OK to begin that process.
- Depending on the size and the number of files stored in the .RAR file, it may take anywhere from under a second to a few minutes to copy all of that data. Once the process has completed, all of data that was inside the RAR file is now accessible! Note: the next time you have to open a RAR file you won't have to repeat this process – the RAR will simply open with 7-Zip.
- That's it – you're done!
