File Extension ZIP

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Descriptions. Workarounds. Issues

File Extension ZIP

is a popular lossless data compression and archival format. A ZIP file contains one or more files that have been compressed, to reduce their file size, or stored as-is. A number of compression algorithms are permitted in zip files but as of 2008 only DEFLATE is widely used and supported.

The format was originally evolved by Phil Katz for PKZIP from the previous ARC compression format by Thom Henderson. However, many software utilities other than PKZIP itself are now available to create, modify, or open (unzip, decompress) ZIP files, notably WinZip, BOMArchiveHelper, KGB Archiver, PicoZip, Info-ZIP, WinRAR, IZArc, 7-Zip, ALZip, TUGZip, PeaZip, Universal Extractor and Zip Genius. Microsoft has included built-in ZIP support (under the name "compressed folders") in later versions of its Windows operating system. Apple has included built-in ZIP support in Mac OS X 10.3 and later via the BOMArchiveHelper utility.

ZIP files generally use the file extensions ".zip" or ".ZIP" and the MIME media type application/zip. Some software uses the ZIP file format as a wrapper for a large number of small items in a specific structure. Generally when this is done a different file extension is used. Examples of this usage are Java JAR files, id Software .pk3/.pk4 files, package files for StepMania and Winamp/Windows Media Player skins, XPInstall, as well as OpenDocument and Office Open XML office formats. Both OpenDocument and Office Open XML formats use the JAR file format internally, so files can be easily uncompressed and compressed using tools for ZIP files. Google Earth makes use of KMZ files, which are just KML files in ZIP format. Mozilla Firefox Add-ons are zip files with extension "xpi". Nokia's mobile phone themes are zipped with extension "nth".

There are many ways to open file with specific file extension. There could be also multiple applications which you can use to open ZIP file. Learn more how to open APK file. Also you can try using hex or text editors like HexView or Notepad++ to open zip files.

We hope you found this description of File Extension ZIP useful.

    • We also created an article for you which step by step describes how to open any file extension on your computer.

      This article will teach you several simple methods which will allow you to figure out what is stored inside the file.

      Read an article on how to open any file extension

    • Find more information about file extension and other file problems in File Extension Knowledge Base

    • Also if you find an application on the web which claims to open your file make sure to scan it for viruses

      It is a very popular trick for an application to claim something it cannot do and instead install malware on your computer

      Read an article on Viruses, Trojans and Adware

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Extensions covered by File Extension Guru at this moment:

  pdf    rar    3gp    pps    dat    xls    flv    dll    torrent    bin    unknown    vob    kmz    doc    ppt    exe    sys    mov    mp4    m4a    zip    wpd    dmg    ica    thm    tmp    odt    xpi    bup    wmv    mkv    part    dwg    db    3g2    kml    mdf    bak    sav    r00    tar    jar    lzh    temp    daa    iso    cue    uif    r01    r02    r03    r04    r05    r06    r07    r08    r09    ifo    lha    7z    gz  

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