Data compression gets more relevant each time a new file is created. Many modern files, especially those that contain software and their resources, take gigabytes of much needed storage space. This has prompted the increased use of data compression mechanisms such as the creation of ZIP archive files. In this article, we are going to learn how to unzip .zip files without WinZip.
Zip archive files are basically a compilation of files and folders, compressed to make one file. To use these individual files, you will have to unzip or extract them.
Advantages of Zip Files
Some of the advantages of using zip files are:
- Zipping can reduce the original file by up to 80%.
- Zipped files have a much faster transmission rate when you send them by email.
- Zipping files allows you to encrypt sensitive or personal data when you’re sending it through the internet.
The main disadvantage of sending zipped files is that if a constituent file is corrupt, the whole zip file will be corrupted.
How to Create Zip Files
WinZip is a program that facilitates the creation and unzipping (opening) of zip files. However, recent Windows versions such as Windows 7, 8 and 10 do not require WinZip to create a zip file. To manually create a zip folder with multiple files in these Windows versions you just have to:
- Open file explorer.
- Create a new folder and name it.
- Identify the files you want to compress.
- Move the files to the new folder that you created.
- When the files are moved, select the folder and right click.
- Choose “send to” on the pop-up menu.
- Select “Compressed (zipped) folder.”
The zip file will be created and ready for email attachment. If you already have a zip file that you would like to open, it is recommended that you have an archive extraction software such as WinZip or WinRAR. If you are using Windows 10 however, you have an option to extract the files manually.
How to Open Zip Files
If you are using Windows 7, 8 or 10, follow the following steps to open any zip files without WinZip or WinRAR.
- Double click the zip file you wish to extract to open the file explorer.
- At the top part of the explorer menu, find “Compressed folder tools” and click it.
- Select the “extract” option that appears below it.
- A pop up window will appear.
- Click “extract” at the bottom of the pop-up window.
This method is not always successful and might display an error. Some of the common error messages likely to be displayed are:
- Zip file corrupt: Zip file does not appear to be a valid zip archive.
- Unexpected end of archive.
- Cyclic redundancy check error.
- Compressed (ZIP) folder is invalid.
In case you come across any of these errors, you’re going to need a reliable data recovery solution. DataNumen Zip Repair is the leading zip file recovery tool recommended by data recovery professionals. After installing it, it will only take a few minutes to repair your corrupted zip files.