.zip files
.zip file
ZIP Archive
The universal compressed folder — every operating system opens one with no extra software.
What opens a .zip file
- Windows
- File Explorer (built in), 7-Zip, WinRAR
- macOS
- Archive Utility (built in), The Unarchiver, Keka
- Linux
- Archive Manager / File Roller (built in), Ark, unzip
What a .zip file is
Phil Katz created ZIP in 1989 and it became the default way to bundle and compress files. Windows, macOS and every Linux desktop extract ZIP archives natively, and countless formats — DOCX, EPUB, APK, JAR — are secretly ZIP files with different extensions. Its built-in password encryption exists but is weak in the legacy variant, so use a tool that offers AES if the contents matter.
Converting it
A .zip file is commonly converted to .7z, .rar, .tar or .gz. It is a binary format, so a text editor will show unreadable characters rather than its contents.
Details
- Extension
- .zip
- Full name
- ZIP Archive
- Category
- Archives
- MIME type
- application/zip
- Created by
- Phil Katz / PKWARE
- Format
- Binary
Common questions
- How do I open a .zip file?
- On Windows use File Explorer (built in); on macOS use Archive Utility (built in); on Linux use Archive Manager / File Roller (built in). The universal compressed folder — every operating system opens one with no extra software.
- What is a .zip file?
- ZIP Archive. Phil Katz created ZIP in 1989 and it became the default way to bundle and compress files. Windows, macOS and every Linux desktop extract ZIP archives natively, and countless formats — DOCX, EPUB, APK, JAR — are secretly ZIP files with different extensions.
- Can I convert a .zip file?
- Yes. It is usually converted to .7z, .rar, .tar or .gz, either by exporting from one of the programs listed above or with a format converter.
Related pages
- .rar — RAR Archive A proprietary archive format with better compression than ZIP and strong recover
- .7z — 7-Zip Archive The open, high-compression archive format from 7-Zip, with proper AES-256 encryp
- .gz — Gzip Compressed File A single compressed file — it holds no folder structure of its own.
- .tar — Tape Archive A Unix bundle of files with no compression at all — usually paired with gzip.
- .tgz — Gzipped Tar Archive Shorthand for .tar.gz — a tar bundle compressed with gzip.
- .xz — XZ Compressed File LZMA2 compression — the tightest of the common Unix single-file compressors.
- .bz2 — Bzip2 Compressed File A compressed single file, slower than gzip but usually smaller.
- .sfx — Self-Extracting Archive Module The stub program archivers glue onto an archive to make it extract itself.
Sources
- Media Types Registry — IANA
- Official vendor product documentation — At One Place