# Free software to open .zip files **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 4, 2012, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-open-zip-files/633607 "2012-09-04T02:35:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-open-zip-files/633607/1 "2012-09-04T02:35:19Z")
What is the most reliable software that is available for free to open .zip files? I’m running Windows XP and Firefox. I prefer to avoid buying WinZip. Also, I’d like any mp3 files to be able to be moved out of the unzipping program. Thanks in advance. ---
**Author:** ![XRaeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/f14d63/32.png) [@XRaeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XRaeth)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-open-zip-files/633607/2 "2012-09-04T02:38:03Z")
I use 7zip for all my compressing/archiving needs. I have never had any issues using it. It will also open .rar files if you ever need to. [http://www.7-zip.org/](http://www.7-zip.org/) ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-open-zip-files/633607/3 "2012-09-04T02:55:05Z")
[Info-Zip is the standard on multiple OSes; WiZ is their graphical program.](http://www.info-zip.org/WiZ.html) Download it, and then scroll that page down to **Installation Instructions for Windows 95/98/NT**. Windows XP is a version of Windows NT. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-open-zip-files/633607/4 "2012-09-04T03:03:36Z")
I thought Microsoft purchased WinZip in order to include it in XP. In any case, zipping and unzipping is included in XP already. To zip files and folders, right-click on them, and go to “Send To – Compressed (zipped) folder”. To unzip, right-click and choose either “Open with – compressed (zipped) folders” or “Extract to…”. Or did I misunderstand the OP? ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-open-zip-files/633607/5 "2012-09-04T04:00:18Z")
I’m with **Keeve**. What? Compression/decompression is native in XP. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-open-zip-files/633607/6 "2012-09-04T04:17:49Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > I thought Microsoft purchased WinZip in order to include it in XP. In any case, zipping and unzipping is included in XP already. > > To zip files and folders, right-click on them, and go to “Send To – Compressed (zipped) folder”. > To unzip, right-click and choose either “Open with – compressed (zipped) folders” or “Extract to…”. > > Or did I misunderstand the OP? Really? Open with – what, exactly? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-open-zip-files/633607/7 "2012-09-04T04:28:46Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Really? Open with – what, exactly? What happens if you try to open a ZIPped file? ---
**Author:** ![Postariti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Postariti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Postariti)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-open-zip-files/633607/8 "2012-09-04T05:24:58Z")
I haven’t used XP in a while, but here’s a simple tutorial on how to unzip using the built in XP feature: > **[How to Unzip a Large File Over 4 Gigabytes | Techwalla](https://www.techwalla.com/articles/how-to-unzip-a-large-file-over-4-gigabytes)** > > Zipping is a common method of archiving large files. The size of zipped files is considerably less than unzipped files, so these files are convenient for storage and file sharing. A zipped file is also able to protect sensitive data and can be sent... ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-open-zip-files/633607/9 "2012-09-04T06:16:04Z")
I can go you one better. I was unzipping files with XP earlier today. Right click on the file you want to unzip. Click on “Extract All…” - it’s the fourth selection. This opens the Extraction Wizard window. Click “Next”. This brings you to a window where you can select your destination. Click “Next” again. This unzips the file. When it’s done, there’s an exit window with a default setting of showing you the opened files. Hit “Finish” to see the files or unclick the default and hit “Finish” to exit without seeing the files. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-open-zip-files/633607/10 "2012-09-04T09:21:48Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Really? Open with – what, exactly? I don’t know the internal workings, nor do I care. The important part to me is that when I choose “Open with – compressed (zipped) folders”, I get a window very similar to the Explorer or MyComputer window that I’m already familiar with, and it shows me the contents of the zipped file, including the entire folder structure, and number of levels deep. I can browse through it at my heart’s content looking at all the file names, and if I find any that are interesting, all I need to do is copy them (ctrl-c, edit/copy, whatever) to any location outside of the zipped file. Sometimes I can even open such files directly – I think that works for .txt but not for .exe, but I don’t remember for sure. A good rule of thumb is that for XP, a zipped file is not much different than a folder. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-open-zip-files/633607/11 "2012-09-04T09:29:52Z")
Hey!!! 2001, it’s nice to see you again 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-open-zip-files/633607/12 "2012-09-04T09:37:21Z")
What the heck? This isn’t a zombie? That info-zip page is straight out of the early 90s. It even talks about Windows 3.1 and editing your autoexec.bat, for chrissakes. /mindblown ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-open-zip-files/633607/13 "2012-09-04T15:12:25Z")
Same in Win 7, 64 bit. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-open-zip-files/633607/14 "2012-09-04T15:30:19Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > [Info-Zip is the standard on multiple OSes; WiZ is their graphical program.](http://www.info-zip.org/WiZ.html) Really? I’m a hard-core user of Windows since Win95, and DOS before that, and I’ve never heard of this program. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-open-zip-files/633607/15 "2012-09-04T15:32:31Z")
Thanks, all. Especially, **Little Nemo**! I didn’t know about the Extract All option being an unzipping utility. Mods, as far as I’m concerned, this question is answered, and the thread may drop into oblivion. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-open-zip-files/633607/16 "2012-09-04T18:28:55Z")
It should also be mentioned that you can just double click on the zip file and it will open in Explorer almost as if it were a regular folder. This will let you just drag individual files or embedded folders into other folders. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-open-zip-files/633607/17 "2012-09-04T19:04:46Z")
If you do for some reason want more functionality, WinRAR does ZIPs and RARs and TARs and lots of other stuff. Even though it bugs you upon startup to pay, you don’t have to pay. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-open-zip-files/633607/18 "2012-09-04T19:09:32Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > Really? I’m a hard-core user of Windows since Win95, and DOS before that, and I’ve never heard of this program. Those are _two_ (or two and a half) OSes; the OS world is a lot larger than that, even on the desktop. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-open-zip-files/633607/19 "2012-09-04T19:17:20Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Those are _two_ (or two and a half) OSes; the OS world is a lot larger than that, even on the desktop. I’m not trying to be argumentative, sorry if it’s coming off that way. But what OSes could one reasonably call Info\_Zip “the standard” for compression? ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-open-zip-files/633607/20 "2012-09-04T23:19:13Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > If you do for some reason want more functionality, WinRAR does ZIPs and RARs and TARs and lots of other stuff. Even though it bugs you upon startup to pay, you don’t have to pay. 7-zip (as mentioned above) does all that too without any nag screens. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-open-zip-files/633607.md?page=2)