Zip files are "archives" used for distributing and storing files. Zip files contain one or more files. Usually the files "archived" in a Zip are compressed to save space. Zip files make it easy to group files and make transporting and copying these files faster.

Zip files save time and space, and make downloading software and transferring e-mail attachments faster. Typical uses for Zip files include:

• Most files available on ftp sites, bulletin boards and electronic services like CompuServe are distributed as archives. Two benefits of using archives for electronic file distribution are that only one file transfer operation ("download") is required to obtain all related files, and file transfer time is minimized because the files in an archive are compressed.
• It is often useful to send a group of related files to an associate. Rather than distributing individual files it is often easier to distribute the files as an archive to benefit from the file grouping and compression.
• Some files are important but used infrequently. To save disk space simply compress these files into an archive when they are not used, and decompress them only when needed.

The Basics

1. In the WinZip Window click the Open toolbar button, or choose Open Archive from the File menu. The Open Archive dialog box will appear.
2. In the Open Archive dialog box you can locate the archive you want to unzip. Then click Open. The contents of the archive will be displayed in the WinZip window.
3. To extract files from the archive click the Extract toolbar button, or choose Extract… from the Actions menu. The Extract dialog box will appear.
4. In the box labeled Extract to: choose the folder where you want to place the extracted files and click Extract.

1. In the WinZip Window click the New toolbar button, or choose New Archive from the File menu. The New Archive dialog box will appear.
2. In the New Archive dialog box you can specify the location where you want to create the archive, and type the name you want to use for your new archive. Then click OK. The Add dialog box will appear.
3. In the Add dialog box select the files that you want to add to your new archive and click Add.

Interactive Tutorial

Unzipping a File
Zipping a File