【ZIP file extension】 What is .Zip and how to unzip it? ▷ 2024

.ZIP file extension What are and how to open such files?

.ZIP formats have become one of the most important tools for all users, especially in those moments where we want to send large files via email > or simply to share them on the Internet.

Therefore, being able to convert a file into a compression format .ZIP is a fundamental part of being able to convert large documents into small documents and thus reduce their weight either to send or simply to Store in removable memory.

However, another disadvantage of this type of format is how to open it, so here we explain a little about what they are and how you can open this type of file either on your computer or mobile .

Index:

What is it and what files with extension are used for. ZIP?

Zip extensions are a compression format that is currently widely used for what is the compression of data such as images, programs or documents, and that allows us to reduce its size in a considered way.

This type of extension allows to reduce the size of different files for easy storage on external devices, such as USB sticks or external hard drives, as well as facilitate their sending through email or through a social network like Facebook .

In the case of Windows some compression and decompression tools are used to be able to decompress this type of .ZIP extensions in the documents. There are also programs for platforms such as Mac that 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?

Being able to open or unzip a .Zip extension on your computer or Smartphone is a very simple task that 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 have free programs that will help them to do this, and in the case of mobile devices whether they are iPhone or Android, You can download some programs from your application store to be able to decompress these types of files that frequently reach us in emails.

On Windows PC

If you have a computer with the Windows operating system you must first make sure that everything is set up 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 extensions automatically the file will open with that program.

If you do not have anything installed you must follow these steps:

The first thing will be to open the magnifying glass of the Windows Explorer.

There you must write the following “Choose a default application”.
Now you will have to select the following option “Choose a default application for each file type ”.

Then you have to scroll to the “.ZIP” heading at the bottom of the page.
You must click on the program that is at right of the .ZIP header and select the “File Explorer.”

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 will open to you stored in it, if you just wanted to see the content the process will be over. But, you should keep in mind that the contents of the folder might look different when you extract it.

To do this you must click on the “Extract” tab located at the top of the screen.
Then you will have to select the option of “Extract 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 if necessary. Usually, this appears by default.
In case you want to extract the folder for a new location you must do the following: The first thing will be to click on the “Browse” option> “Select the folder you want to use for its location”> “click on select the folder in the lower right corner”.
Now you must check the box of “Show the extracted files on completion.”
The following will be to select “Extract” located at the bottom of the window. After this, the files in the .ZIP folder will be stored in a normal folder, once the extraction has been completed, this folder can be opened normally to be able to see the files contained in it.

On Mac computers

In case you have a Mac computer and you don’t know how to open this type of extension .ZIP here we show you some steps so you can start Open 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 in the folder In case 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 on Copy in the drop-down menu ”>“ Go to where you want to extract the files ”>“ Now click on edit and select the option to paste from the drop-down menu ”.
The following will be to click on the ZIP folder to start extracting the information to a normal folder .

Now wait a few seconds for to finish the extraction process and open the standard folder where the documents have been copied.

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 perform, for this 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 case that you have not downloaded it yet, you must go to its location and download. Once this is done, this file will be saved in the “Download” folder of your Smartphone.

The next thing will be to go to Google Play to download the WinZip application, which will allow you to find and extract the ZIP folder that you have downloaded.

Once installed on the Smartphone , you must start the application through its icon.
Now you will see an option “Allow” which you must accept, in this way you will give the app permissions so that it can access your files.

Now swipe the screen to the right and press the accountStartrd.

Next, you will have to select the default storage, this will depend on where you are the ZIP folder that you want to open, either in the internal memory of the mobile or on the SD card.

The following will be to open the location of the ZIP folder.

Now select the folder and touch the checkbox to the right of the name to select it.

Then click on the “Unzip” icon this 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.
Finally, select “Unzip here” located at the bottom of the screen. After this the files will be extracted in 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 to be able to carry out this process, to do this follow the steps that you We explain below:

To begin you must go to the App Store and look for the application of iZip, which you will download to your Smartphone. This application will allow you to extract and view compressed files within a .ZIP folder . You can download it for free.

Now look for the ZIP folder that you want to extract, keep in mind that it can be found either in the email or in some file within the menu of your applications.
Once found click on the folder , there will open a preview of it.

The following will be to click on the “Share” icon located in the lower left corner of your screen. There a new menu will open at the bottom of your screen.

Now scroll right and select the “Copy to iZip” option. The iZip app will open automatically and will show your ZIP folder.

Then you press the name of the ZIP folder, immediately the information stored in it will begin to be extracted, it will be transferred to a normal folder with the same name as the previous one. >
Finally, touch the unzipped folder and it will open with all the files that were compressed in the ZIP folder.

List of the best applications for open document and programs .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 out this, for this we explain the best programs to compress and decompress a .ZIP document .