Buzz
Today, Mytour will show you how to access the contents of a ZIP file (compressed folder) without needing WinZip or any other paid software with similar functionality.
Steps
Using Built-in Software
Double-click the ZIP file. On Mac OS X, Ubuntu Linux, Windows XP, or newer versions, double-clicking a ZIP file will open a new window. You can copy the contents from this window to another folder.
- On OS X, double-clicking a ZIP file creates a folder next to the compressed file but does not open it automatically.
Right-click the ZIP file. On Windows and Linux systems, you can right-click the ZIP file and select “Extract All…” or “Extract Here.” The “Extract All…” option lets you specify a destination folder, while “Extract Here” will unzip the contents into the same directory as the ZIP file.
For Mac operating systems
Locate the ZIP file. You can search for the file by typing its name into the Finder application. Look for the file with the ".zip" extension.
- On Mac systems, ZIP files are referred to as "compressed" folders.
Double-click the ZIP file. Once you double-click, the compressed folder will immediately begin extracting its contents into a regular folder in the same location (e.g., on the desktop).
- The extraction time depends on the size of the compressed folder.
Double-click the newly created folder. This folder contains the same contents as the compressed folder. You can now access the uncompressed data here.
For Windows operating systems
Locate the ZIP file. You can type the file name into the Start menu search bar located at the bottom-left corner of your screen.
- If you’re using Windows 7 or earlier, you’ll need to click the ⊞ Win button in the bottom-left corner to access the search function.
Right-click the ZIP file. A dropdown menu will appear with options for managing the file.
- You can also double-click the compressed file if you only want to view its contents.
Click the Extract All option. This option is located near the top of the dropdown menu.
Click Extract. This button is located at the bottom-right corner of the dialog box. The contents of the ZIP file will then be extracted into a regular folder in the same location as the compressed file.
- You can also click Browse to choose a new destination for the extracted folder (e.g., the "Documents" folder or your desktop).
Double-click the extracted folder. All the contents previously compressed in the ZIP file are now stored in this folder. You can now access the uncompressed data.
Tips
- While .zip files are easy to open, files with extensions like .rar or .7z require specialized software, such as 7-zip.
Warnings
- If you plan to download any software, make sure to research it thoroughly before proceeding.
