.ZIP formats have become one of the most important tools for all users, especially in those moments where we want to send large files by email or just for share them online.
Therefore, being able to convert a file in .ZIP compression format It is a fundamental part to be able to convert large documents into small documents and thus reduce their weight either to send or simply to store in a removable memory.
However, another of the drawbacks of this type of format is how to open it, in such a way, here we explain a little about what they are and how you can open this type of file either on your computer or mobile.
What is and what are files with the .ZIP extension used for?
Zip Extensions are a compression format that is currently widely used for what it is data compression such as images, programs or documents, and that allows us to reduce its size in a considered way.
This type of extension allows decrease size of different files to facilitate their storage in external devices, What usb sticks either external hard drive, as well as facilitate its sending through the email or through a social network such as Facebook.
In the case of windows Some compression and decompression tools are used to be able to unzip this type of .ZIP extensions In the documents. There are also programs for platforms such as Mac which can be used to decompress this type of extension and thus be able to access them.
How to open .ZIP files on smartphones or computers?
Can open or unzip a .zip extension on your computer or smartphone It is a very simple task but it requires the use of some programs to be able to extract the folder and start using each of the documents that are contained within. the .ZIP folder.
However, both computers with Windows and Mac They have free programs that will help them do this, and in the case of mobile devices, either iPhone or Android, can download some programs from your app store to be able to decompress this type of files that frequently arrive in emails.
On Windows PC
If you have a computer with the windows operating system you must first make sure that everything that the system is configured to be able to open the .ZIP folders with the file explorer. Keep in mind that if you have any program installed on your computer to open this type of extension, the file will automatically open with that program.
In the case of not having anything installed you must follow these steps:
- The first thing will be to open the magnifying glass Windows Explorer.
- There you must write the following “Choose a default app.”
- Now you will have to select the following option “Choose a default application for each file type”.
- Then you have to scroll to the header “.ZIP” located at the bottom of the page.
- You must click on the program that is to the right of the header .ZIP and we select the “File Browser”.
- now you must find the .ZIP folder that you want to open on your computer.
- Once found, you must double-click on the folder and the content stored in it will open. If you only wanted to see the content, the process will be finished. But, you should keep in mind that the content of the folder might look different when you extract it.
- To do this you must click on the tab “Extract” located at the top of the screen.
- Then you will have to select the option “Remove all” located in the toolbar at the top.
- There will open a pop-up window where you will have to select the location of Data extraction in the case of being necessary. Usually this appears by default.
- In the event that you want to extract the folder to a new location, you must do the following: The first thing will be to click on the option “Browse” > “Select the folder you want to use for its location” > “Click select folder in the lower right corner”.
- Now you must check the box “Show extracted files on completion”.
- The next thing will be to select “Extract” located at the bottom of the window. After this, the files of the .ZIP folder they will be stored in a normal folder, once the extraction has been completed, You can open this folder in the normal way to see the files contained in it.
On Mac computers
In case you have a mac computer and do not know how to open this type of .ZIP extension Here we show you a few steps so that you can start opening this type of file from your computer in a very simple and fast way.
- To start you must find the ZIP folder that you want to open on your computer.
- The content will be automatically extracted to the same address of the folder. In the event that you want to copy the files to another location, you must do the following: “Select the ZIP folder” > “click and select the editing option at the top of the screen” > “Now click Copy from the dropdown menu” > “Go to where you want to extract the files” > “Now click edit and select the paste option from the dropdown menu”.
- The next thing will be to click on the ZIP folder for it to begin extract the information to a normal folder.
- Now wait a few seconds finish the extraction process and the standard folder where the documents have been copied is opened.
On Android mobile phones
In the case of mobile devices this process changes a bit. However, it is still a very simple and quick process to carry out, to do so, follow these steps that we will explain below:
- It is important that you have downloaded the ZIP folder on your mobile device to start the process. In the event that you have not yet downloaded it, you must go to its location and download it. Once this is done, said file will be saved in the folder “Download” of your Smartphone.
- The next thing will be to go to Google play in order to download the application WinZipwhich will allow you to find and extract ZIP folder that you have downloaded
- Once installed in the smartphoneyou should start the application through its icon.
- Now you will see an option “Allow” which you must accept, in this way you will give the permissions to the app so that it can access your files.
- Now swipe the screen to the right and press the button Start.
- Next, you will have to select the default storage, this will depend on where it is located the ZIP folder that you want to open, either in the internal memory of the mobile or in the SD card.
- The next thing will be to open the location of the ZIP folder.
- Now select the folder and tap the check box to the right of the name to be able to select it.
- Then click on the icon “Decompress” it appears at the top of the screen.
- Select the folder where you want to save the new unzipped folder. To do this, touch storage and choose the location where you want to save it.
- Lastly, select “unzip here” located at the bottom of the screen. After this the files will be extracted to the selected location and will be ready to use.
On iPhone devices with iOS
In the case of iOS mobile devices it will be necessary to install an application from the app store In order to carry out this process, follow the steps that we explain below:
- To start you must go to the app store and search for the app iZip, which you are going to download to your Smartphone. This application will allow you to extract and view the compressed files within a .ZIP folder. You can download it totally free.
- now search the ZIP folder you want to extract, note that this can be found either in the email or in some File, Archive within the menu of your applications.
- once found click on the foldera preview of it will open there.
- The next thing will be to click on the icon “Share” located in the lower left corner of your screen. There a new menu will open at the bottom of your screen.
- Now scroll to the right and select the option of “Copy to iZip.” It will open automatically the iZip app and it will show your ZIP folder.
- then press the name of the ZIP folder, The information stored in it will immediately begin to be extracted, it will be transferred to a normal folder with the same name as the previous one.
- Finally, tap the unzipped folder and it will open with all the files that were compressed in the ZIP folder.
List of best alternative apps and programs to open a document with .ZIP extension without using WinZip
It is important to mention that there are currently a large number of programs and applications that will help us carry out this type of process in a very simple way. Among them, the most used currently is WinZip, and which allows you to extract files from .ZIP folder in a very easy way.
However, here we are going to present other alternatives that you can use to carry this out, for this we explain the top .
7-ZIP
Currently 7-zip It is among the most reputable programs on the market, and best of all, it is totally free. Also. It not only allows you to convert or extract files with .ZIP extensions, it also has support for almost all formats.
This program allows you to compress large files up to 16 trillion gigabytes, has a very good platform that facilitates this procedure for each of its users. With just one click you can compress or decompress those documents that you are needing. In addition, it should be noted that 7-ZIP is characterized by its great compression speed.
WinRAR
It can be said that this program is as famous and as good as WinZip. It is worth mentioning that WinRAR was able to position itself thanks to its RAR format. However, with this program you also have the opportunity to extract files in .ZIP format without any kind of problem and has a high speed decompression.
It is also worth mentioning that this program is usually installed by default in the windows Operating System, and is currently considered one of the . It is worth mentioning that its platform is not the most attractive of all, but with it you can open those formats that you want so much.
PeaZip
Another of the tools that we can find in the market is PeaZip, a very simple program to use and that has a quite attractive and modern interface. PeaZip is a software Open Source and which is available in a portable version that will allow you to manage your files.
PeaZip, It is a software that…
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