Zip and unzip files

Zipped (compressed) files take up less storage space and can be transferred to other computers more quickly than uncompressed files. In Windows, you work with zipped files and folders in the same way that you work with uncompressed files and folders. Combine several files into a single zipped folder to more easily share a group of files.

Locate the file or folder that you want to zip.

Press and hold (or right-click) the file or folder, select (or point to) Send to, and then select Compressed (zipped) folder.

A new zipped folder with the same name is created in the same location. To rename it, press and hold (or right-click) the folder, select Rename, and then type the new name.

Locate the zipped folder that you want to unzip (extract) files or folders from.

Do one of the following:

To unzip a single file or folder, open the zipped folder, then drag the file or folder from the zipped folder to a new location.

To unzip all the contents of the zipped folder, press and hold (or right-click) the folder, select Extract All, and then follow the instructions.

To add files or folders to a zipped folder you created earlier, drag them to the zipped folder.

If you add encrypted files to a zipped folder, they’ll be unencrypted when they’re unzipped, which might result in unintentional disclosure of personal or sensitive information. For that reason, we recommend that you avoid zipping encrypted files.

Some types of files, like JPEG images, are already highly compressed. If you zip several JPEG pictures into a folder, the total size of the folder will be about the same as the original collection of pictures.

Unzip multiple files in same folder

How can I unzip multiple files inside some folder in Windows 10?

Only option available is to extract a file at once and with a popup window suggesting a folder with file name.

Replies (6) 

Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community.

I understand the inconvenience you are facing currently.

I would appreciate if you can provide us the following information to help us understand the issue better.

1. Which application did you use to zip the files?
2. What happens when you access the unzipped files?
3. Do you get the error message?

I would suggest you to see the following link to unzip the files.
Zip and unzip files
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/zip-unzip-files

(Applies to Windows 10)

Hope the information helps. Please get back to us with a reply so that we can assist you further.

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1. Downloaded zip folders from outlook.com or dropbox for example.

2. If I select multiple files, and select extract, a window appears asking for a folder.

After selected, only one file is unzipped.

An option to unzip to local folder (instead of having to choose another folder) in contextual menu should be available.

3. no error message.

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It must be unfortunate that you are still facing the same issue. Let me help you.

Have you tried the steps mentioned by Nachappa K? What is the status?

If the issue persist, it might be the issue with some corrupted files in the system.

I suggest you to run an SFC scan and check if it helps.

Method 1: Run SFC Scan

Click on the below link and follow the procedure to perform a SFC Scan.

Check if it helps.

I hope the issue will be resolved. Please keep us posted on the issue. We will be happy to assist you accordingly.

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I visited the site Nachappa K provided but there is no answer there.

There is nothing about corrupted files. Sorry.

Simple: I would like to select multiple compressed files inside a folder. Then click Extract All.

Then have all files extracted inside that folder, without asking me which folder I would like to create.

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I visited the site Nachappa K provided but there is no answer there.

There is nothing about corrupted files. Sorry.

Simple: I would like to select multiple compressed files inside a folder. Then click Extract All.

Then have all files extracted inside that folder, without asking me which folder I would like to create.

8 people found this reply helpful

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Can I just say that this must be the worst response I’ve ever seen.

A simple question is met with misunderstanding and incorrect information.

Next, a suggestion is made to use third party software, then a note raised to suggest that using third party software (which Windows has thrived on for years) will break your PC. And the answer to run SFC scan.

You couldn’t make it up..

The answer is: There is no way, currently, to unzip multiple ZIP files located in a single directory easily. There are third party tools that can do this but we cannot support those tools (for obvious reasons).

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Windows unzip all files in folder

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Asked by:

Question

I have a folder «Zipped» which contains 100s of .zip files

I want to unzip all zip-files in this folder to «\\zipped\Unzipped» folder.

It seems expand-archive cmdlet only support one file at a time.
So do you need to create an array with all filenames and then create a loop to unzip all files?

All replies

Get-ChildItem *.zip | Expand-Archive

Read the help for both CmdLets.

• Proposed as answer by Albert Ling Microsoft contingent staff Thursday, December 7, 2017 6:19 AM

• Edited by Lilth Wednesday, December 6, 2017 11:51 AM
• Proposed as answer by Albert Ling Microsoft contingent staff Thursday, December 7, 2017 6:19 AM

This one I used as well, multiple times. Worked perfectly.

when you cobinate the cmdlets get-childitem with expand you can reach you goal.

Get-ChildItem \\zipped\*zip | Expand-Archive -DestinationPath \\zipped\unzipped\

All Zip-Files would be extract to the folder unzipped.

• Proposed as answer by Albert Ling Microsoft contingent staff Thursday, December 7, 2017 6:19 AM

Here the simple code to do the things:

Assume that your zip file have same file name in all zip files, the below one will overwrite all the files which has same file name

Get-ChildItem \\zipped\*zip | Expand-Archive -DestinationPath \\zipped\unzipped\

I hope the below one will help you reach your goal

#Extract zip files to the same location with same folder name (removed .zip)

gci -Recurse -Filter *.zip |ForEach-Object

#Extract zip files to different location with same name (extracted folder name will contains .zip)

gci -Filter *.zip |ForEach-Object

#Extract zip files to different folder location, this will extract the zip files including sub folders in destination)

PS C:\Temp\tt> gci -Recurse -Filter *.zip |ForEach-Object

Unzip All Files In A Directory

I have a directory of ZIP files (created on a Windows machine). I can manually unzip them using unzip filename , but how can I unzip all the ZIP files in the current folder via the shell?

Using Ubuntu Linux Server.

16 Answers 16

This works in bash, according to this link:

Just put in some quotes to escape the wildcard:

The following bash script extracts all zip files in the current directory into new dirs with the filename of the zip file, i.e.:

The following files:

Will be extracted to:

Shell script:

unzip *.zip, or if they are in subfolders, then something like

Unzip all .zip files and store the content in a new folder with the same name and in the same folder as the .zip file:

This will extract all the zip files in current directory, what if I want the zip files (present in subfolders) to be extracted in the respective subfolders ?

This will unzip all the zip archives into new folders named with the filenames of the zip archives.

a.zip b.zip c.zip will be unzipped into a b c folders respectively.

In any POSIX shell, this will unzip into a different directory for each zip file:

aunpack -e *.zip , with atool installed. Has the advantage that it deals intelligently with errors, and always unpacks into subdirectories unless the zip contains only one file . Thus, there is no danger of polluting the current directory with masses of files, as there is with unzip on a zip with no directory structure.

If by ‘current directory’ you mean the directory in which the zip file is, then I would use this command:

excerpt from find’s man page

Like -exec, but the specified command is run from the subdirectory containing the matched file, which is not normally the directory in which you started find. This a much more secure method for invoking commands, as it avoids race conditions during resolution of the paths to the matched files. As with the -exec option, the ‘+’ form of -execdir will build a command line to process more than one matched file, but any given invocation of command will only list files that exist in the same subdirectory. If you use this option, you must ensure that your $PATH environment variable does not reference the current directory; otherwise, an attacker can run any commands they like by leaving an appropriately-named file in a directory in which you will run -execdir.

How to Unzip a File

Why do I need to unzip files?

Zip files are single files that contain one or more compressed files. People zip files to keep related groups of files together and to make files smaller so they are easier and faster to share by email or via the web.
Zip files are ideal for archiving since they save storage space. And, they are also useful for securing data using encryption.

WinZip allows you to archive zip file(s) so that you can organize, store, and save space on your computer.

How to unzip files with WinZip

1. Launch WinZip from the start menu or Desktop icon. Open the compressed file by navigating to the folder using the WinZip Files pane and double clicking on the compressed file.
2. If you only want to unzip some of the files, click on a file in the zip file pane and then check the box to unzip the files or unzip a folder by selecting the checkbox next to it.
3. Click the on the Unzip to button in the Actions pane
4. Choose the destination folder to place the uncompressed files and click «Unzip» button.
5. Your extracted files will appear in the WinZip file pane in the selected destination folder.

3 quick ways to open a Zip file

1. Right-click in Windows Explorer and choose «Open with WinZip»
2. Double-click to launch WinZip
3. Open WinZip and choose the file using the File pane

As you can see, it’s as easy as 1-2-3 to unzip files.
Try it for yourself – download the trial.

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