The ZIP format offers the pos­sib­il­ity to group several files or entire directory trees in a container file to save space. All common operating systems make com­pres­sion functions available for archiving files that you no longer need using native tools. However, special com­pres­sion programs offer a more extensive range of functions.

A detailed guide on how to create ZIP files can be found in our general article about ZIP files. Read our step-by step tutorial below and learn how to extract zipped files – both with your operating system’s standard programs and with the most popular ap­plic­a­tions by other software man­u­fac­tur­ers.

Unpacking ZIP Files with Windows Standard Programs

Follow these steps to unpack ZIP files using the tools that Windows 10 provides:

Step 1: Select the ZIP file you want to extract and right-click on the selected file.

Step 2: Click on “Extract all...” in the shortcut menu that opens.

Image: Windows File Explorer shortcut menu
Windows File Explorer shortcut menu

Step 3: Select the des­tin­a­tion folder where you want to save the contents of the ZIP file and click “Extract”.

Image: Selecting the save destination
Selecting the save des­tin­a­tion

How to Open ZIP Files with macOS Standard Programs

Follow these steps to unpack a ZIP file using the standard macOS archive program.

Step 1: Select the ZIP file you want to open and right-click on the selected file.

Step 2: Click on “Open With” in the shortcut menu and select “Archive Utility (default)”. Al­tern­at­ively, with macOS a double-click on a ZIP file is suf­fi­cient to unzip it with the default program.

Image: macOS Finder shortcut menu
macOS Finder shortcut menu

The unpacked content is auto­mat­ic­ally stored in the same folder as the ZIP file.

Unpacking Com­pressed Files with ZIP Programs

Special com­pres­sion programs provide more options for zipping and unzipping files. Some of the most popular ap­plic­a­tions for Microsoft Windows include WinZip, WinRAR, and 7-Zip.

WinZip

Follow these steps to open a ZIP file using WinZip:

Step 1: Download the program WinZip from the website of the Canadian software man­u­fac­turer Coral as a trial version or paid full version: https://www.winzip.com/win/en/.

Step 2: Install WinZip on your system and agree to integrate the program into the Windows File Explorer shortcut menu.

Step 3: Right-click on the ZIP file you want to extract and select “WinZip”.

Step 4: Choose one of three options for unpacking ZIP folders:

WinZip options De­scrip­tion
Unzip to... Save the contents of the ZIP file to a des­tin­a­tion folder of your choice
Unzip to here Save the contents of the ZIP file to the current folder
Unzip to folder C:\User\EUser\Desktop\test Save the contents of the ZIP file to the current directory in a folder named the same as the ZIP file
Image: WinZIP integration in the Windows File Explorer shortcut menu
The WinZip program can be in­teg­rated directly into Windows Explorer’s shortcut menu.

WinRAR

Follow these steps to unpack a ZIP file using WinRAR:

Step 1: Download the pro­pri­et­ary archive program WinRAR from the provider’s website: https://www.rarlab.com/.

Step 2: Install WinRAR on your system and agree to integrate the program into the Windows File Explorer’s shortcut menu.

Step 3: Right-click on the ZIP file you want to open and select one of four options:

WinRAR options De­scrip­tion
Open with WinRAR Open the ZIP file with WinRAR
Extract files… Save the ZIP file according to settings made in the next step
Extract Here Save the contents of the ZIP file to the current folder
Extract to test Save the contents of the ZIP file to the current directory in a folder named the same as the ZIP file
Image: WinRAR integration in the Windows File Explorer’s shortcut menu
If necessary, you can integrate WinRAR directly into the Windows File Explorer shortcut menu and set the ap­plic­a­tion as the default program for ZIP files and other archive formats.

7-Zip

The free software 7-Zip scores well not only with its extensive range of functions, but also since it’s free to use. To extract a ZIP file with 7-Zip:

Step 1: Download 7-Zip from https://www.7-zip.org/.

Step 2: Install the software on your system. The ZIP program is auto­mat­ic­ally in­teg­rated into the Windows shortcut menu.

Step 3: Right-click on the ZIP file you want to open and select 7-Zip from the Windows File Explorer shortcut menu.

Step 4: Select one of the following options to open the ZIP file with 7-Zip:

7-Zip options De­scrip­tion
Open archive Open the ZIP file with 7-Zip
Open > * / # / #:e / 7z / zip / cab / rar Open the file with the specified format
Extract files… Save the ZIP file according to settings made in the next step
Extract Here Save the contents of the ZIP file to the current folder
Extract to “Example\” Save the contents of the ZIP file to the current directory in a folder named the same as the ZIP file
Image: 7-Zip integration in the Windows File Explorer shortcut menu
7-Zip can also be in­teg­rated directly into the Windows File Explorer shortcut menu after in­stall­a­tion.
Tip

We offer you a detailed com­par­is­on of the most popular ZIP programs in our article on WinZip al­tern­at­ives.

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