How to open zip files

[Hdunlopclark]

Hi, can you PLEASE help me, i have just changed from a pc to a mac, am still a total beginner with it. i have downloaded some movies and one is a zip file, do you how i can open and watch it? couldnt really find an answer anywhere else. Thanks a lot!!! Harry

[psychofreak]

Double click the zip to open, you can use VLC to play it, or Perian to add codecs to Quicktime

[Raid]

Originally Posted by Hdunlopclark

Hi, can you PLEASE help me, i have just changed from a pc to a mac, am still a total beginner with it. i have downloaded some movies and one is a zip file, do you how i can open and watch it? couldnt really find an answer anywhere else. Thanks a lot!!! Harry

Opening the zipped should be as easy as double clicking on it... did that not work? You can download stuffit expander to get it to open. Also what format is the video in? Some aren't playable with quicktime, but there are options out there to play most of them.

<edit> Beaten by psychofreak </edit>

[emw]

You should just be able to double-click it to unarchive the file. Mac OS X has a built-in application to do this. You can also download Stuffit Expander or some such thing, but it shouldn't be necessary.

If it isn't opening, it might not be a proper ZIP file.

[willyq711]

What is the standard compression file and extension for MAC (which OS-X will automatically recognize and uncompress/compress w/o 3rd party software)?? I am also a previous PC user. Is ZIP the standard for MAC as well?? What about SIT??

Thanks....

[Jason S.]

Originally Posted by willyq711

What is the standard compression file and extension for MAC (which OS-X will automatically recognize and uncompress/compress w/o 3rd party software)?? I am also a previous PC user. Is ZIP the standard for MAC as well?? What about SIT??

Thanks....

If you create an Archive with OS X it will use ZIP. Double-clicking a ZIP archive will decompress it.

SIT is Stuff It Expander, which you need to download from a third party.

[willyq711]

Excellent... Thanks guys... ZIP it is...

[ronroyer]

Hi,

I am new to Mac and have a macbook pro with the latest Mac OS. I cannot open zip files anymore. I used to be able to double click and the file would open. Now it simply archives it to a 'cpgz' file. If I click on that, i brings me back to the zip file! I have tried using archive.app which is designated as the app to open the file but I get the same results. What is really strange is that this did not happen until I downloaded and installed the most recent update to the OS. Not sure how to fix this.

Any thoughts on a solution?

Ron Royer

[Mal]

Originally Posted by ronroyer

Hi,

I am new to Mac and have a macbook pro with the latest Mac OS. I cannot open zip files anymore. I used to be able to double click and the file would open. Now it simply archives it to a 'cpgz' file. If I click on that, i brings me back to the zip file! I have tried using archive.app which is designated as the app to open the file but I get the same results. What is really strange is that this did not happen until I downloaded and installed the most recent update to the OS. Not sure how to fix this.

Any thoughts on a solution?

Ron Royer

Try The Unarchiver. It can open most compressed files without trouble.

jW

[184550]

Originally Posted by Hdunlopclark

Hi, can you PLEASE help me, i have just changed from a pc to a mac, am still a total beginner with it. i have downloaded some movies and one is a zip file, do you how i can open and watch it? couldnt really find an answer anywhere else. Thanks a lot!!! Harry

I'd recommend downloading StuffIt Expander. It's a free app that will also open up numerous other file types as well.

[emw]

Wow - didn't expect to see this thread pop up again after almost 3 years...

In any case, while downloading the other utilities will certainly work, it's a little concerning that the base unarchiving available in OS X is no longer working for you. It doesn't seem to make much sense.

However, you're not the only one seeing this problem, and apparently it's been around for awhile. There are a couple of suggestions in this Apple discussion thread you can try as well.

[ronroyer]

Thanks for all the responses. I will check the link to the Apple discussion. I tried unarchiver and I keep getting messages that it cannot open the file. What is even more interesting is if I use Firefox, it automatically opens the files for me (I have an add-on to do this) but I started using Chrome and it does not. I will try Safari and see what happens. Still dont know why it wont open if it is in the documents folder.

Ron

[ringgit]

I have similar question being a newbie to Mac. In Windows, when I received a zip attachment in an email, I double click it and an explorer window opened and the contents of the zip file is shown. I can then drag and drop to extract it. What happened in Windows is that the file is auto downloaded to a temp directory and then Windows opened in causing the explorer to run.

In Mac, when I double click on the zip attachment in the same email client, I could see it pause for a while, as though it is saving to a temp folder in Mac OS and then it probably unzips.. but Finder did not pop up!

Instead, I have to detach the zip file to desktop, go to desktop and double click it for Finder to appear. Not very smart!

I installed The Unarchiver but again, it is as though the .zip was not associated to The Unarchiver. Double clicking the attachment in the email doesn't launch The Unarchiver. What did I do wrong!?

[simsaladimbamba]

Originally Posted by ringgit

I have similar question being a newbie to Mac. In Windows, when I received a zip attachment in an email, I double click it and an explorer window opened and the contents of the zip file is shown. I can then drag and drop to extract it. What happened in Windows is that the file is auto downloaded to a temp directory and then Windows opened in causing the explorer to run.

In Mac, when I double click on the zip attachment in the same email client, I could see it pause for a while, as though it is saving to a temp folder in Mac OS and then it probably unzips.. but Finder did not pop up!

Instead, I have to detach the zip file to desktop, go to desktop and double click it for Finder to appear. Not very smart!

Maybe download the attachment first, it will then be downloaded to your Downloads folder. Then go to that folder and double-click on the .zip file to extract it.

I installed The Unarchiver but again, it is as though the .zip was not associated to The Unarchiver. Double clicking the attachment in the email doesn't launch The Unarchiver. What did I do wrong!?

How to change the default application a certain file type opens with

[ringgit]

Originally Posted by simsaladimbamba

Maybe download the attachment first, it will then be downloaded to your Downloads folder. Then go to that folder and double-click on the .zip file to extract it.

That is so Windows 3.1!! And Mac is supposed to be advance and intuitive!

[simsaladimbamba]

Originally Posted by ringgit

That is so Windows 3.1!! And Mac is supposed to be advance and intuitive!

Normally it is, but I don't use Mail, thus I can't help you with your problem.
Maybe make your own and dedicated thread in the Mac Applications and Mac App Store sub-forum, titled "How to download/open .zip attachments in Mail?" if an Advanced Search or Mail's Help menu does not bring help.

[ringgit]

I'll do that, thanks. I'll imagine this is not confined to Mail. Outlook or even Sparrow would have the same issues.

[lck2007]

I got the same issue on opening the zip attachment in mail without prompt issue, but now works. Just share the steps below:

I tried to launch the "The Unarchiver" from Finder > Application, under the Archive Formats, uncheck "Zip Archives", exit "The Unarchiver", open it and check the "Zip Archives" again.

Also I tried to use two fingers click on the zip attachment in mailbox, open with "The Unarchiver". Suddenly the zip attachment icon was changed to "The Unarchiver" and then it seem work!!

[Peter Franks]

I've always been able to open Zips no problem on a Mac, but today I get a message 'Error 1 Operation not permitted'. Why previously, but not now?

[DIEDI]

Now I have a weird problem . All my zip files except from one are working fine. The files for that site all wanted to open in VLC, which didn't work properly anyway. So I uninstalled VLC . Now they want to open in Toast :lol: As I said ONLY from this site. Neither VLC or Toast are shown as an option to open, only Archive Utility or the unarchiver. But neither of those are opening the files . btw they are cue files

[mschipperheyn]

Also moved from PC to Mac. Just want to click and view a zip file, not extract it. Seems like an impossible task. Unarchiver keeps asking for an extraction directory and some of the other zip viewers you actually have to pay for. Great. file management 101 is a challenge. pfff

[snberk103]

Originally Posted by mschipperheyn

Also moved from PC to Mac. Just want to click and view a zip file, not extract it. Seems like an impossible task. Unarchiver keeps asking for an extraction directory and some of the other zip viewers you actually have to pay for. Great. file management 101 is a challenge. pfff

Um.... Why aren't you just double-clicking the ZIP file? OS X will just opens up the file - yes it will extract it, but it does so next to the original and shouldn't ask you where to put it. The assumption behind a ZIP file is that the receiver will extract the contents, and then figure out what to do with them. So, while there may be unarchivers that will allow you do work with the contents without actually writing the files to the HDD, that is considered the 'fancy schmancy' way of doing things. It's a premium product. The OS X built in ZIP unarchiver is just supposed to do what ZIP files are meant to do... so it extracts. For the Bells and Whistles you need a 3rd party solution.