How to Decompress a Zip File

Zip your files to compress them.

A compressed zip archive contains several files in which you can save to another location, send in an email, or quickly upload to your website. These files use compression, which means the data storage size is reduced compared to the size each file is separately. To "decompress" a file, you extract the zip archive contents to a location on your hard drive. The files are still kept in the archive, but a copy is decompressed and placed in one of your directories.

Instructions

1. Double-click "My Computer" on your desktop. If you use Vista or Windows 7, the icon is labeled "Computer." This opens Windows Explorer. Navigate to the directory where your zip archive is located.

2. Right-click the zip archive and select "Extract All." Select a location for the extracted files. Windows creates a new directory and decompresses the files to the hard drive.

3. Double-click the new directory to open it and review its content. Notice the files are extracted in the same directories and order from the zip archive.

References

• Computer Hope: How do I extract or uncompress a compressed file? (Microsoft Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, and XP users)