When you try to open a ZIP file, it will be extracted into a CPGZ file. But when you close the zip file, it will be turned back into a ZIP file. However, issues can take place during this conversion and your CPGZ file might not convert into a ZIP file when closing it. This can lead you towards frustrating situations. If you have a CPGZ file. If you have a Mac, you can still easily unzip or extract files from a ZIP file using Mac’s Archive Utility tool. Here’s how to open a ZIP file using the Archive Utility tool in Mac: Locate the ZIP file you want to open. If you’re not sure where you stored the ZIP file after downloading it, check the Downloads folder. Double-click the ZIP.
Matt Cone January 8, 2021 TutorialsMac
If you own a Mac, you’ll eventually need to transfer files and folders to others. To do that, you’re going to want to shrink - or compress - the files so they take up the least amount of space possible. That way, it will be easy to move your files via email, FTP, or even with an instant messaging application.
In the past, Mac users had to rely on an expensive application called Stuffit to compress files and folders. That application’s still around, but it’s no longer necessary the way it once was. In fact, macOS has built-in features that allow you to compress - or zip - files and folders on the spot. You can also uncompress zipped files and folders - it’s all built into macOS.
Here’s how to compress files and folders on your Mac:
How To Convert File To Zip On Mac Without
Locate the file or folder you want to compress. You can select multiple files and folders by holding down the Shift key (for multiple items) or the Command key (for several individual items) and clicking.
After you’ve selected the files and folders, right click on them, and then select Compress.
A window may appear indicating that your Mac is compressing the files or folders. Depending on the size of the files or the folders, this could take a couple minutes.
Once your Mac has finished compressing the files or folders, you’ll see a nice little zip file. This contains all of the files and folders you selected to be compressed. Just send this to your Mac- or PC-using friends - they’ll be able to open it. All Mac users have to do to open the zip file is double-click it!
How Small Can You Make the Files?
How much space can you save by compressing? That depends on the type of files you’re trying to compress. Generally speaking, a zip file will be about 10% smaller than all of the files were before they were compressed. This feature works best with medium size files - compressing lots of small files or one or two big files won’t save you much space.
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Apple is a company that always aims to deliver nifty and practical features to customers. So it may not come as a surprise that macOS has an archiver tool. Surely, that’s not the only way to unzip files on Mac, we’ll look into free third-party apps as well. Overall, file archiver utilities help store and structurize files, some may apply compression to reduce end-file size.
Use macOS file archiver
To create an archive, prepare files or a folder with files. Then select the files, make a right click (tap or click touchpad with two fingers) and hit Compress items.
As a rule, the size of compressed files will be reduced a bit. To unpack any ZIP archive – double click on the archive file and voila.
Unzip file on Mac with free apps
We’ve already mentioned one of our favorite archive apps in the Best macOS apps article. Now let’s name several more.
iZip Unarchiverby TheBraveSoft Media is a free unarchiver application. It supports all popular archive formats: .7z, .zip, .rar, .tar, .wim, .gzip (31 in total). On the other hand, there’s only the unzip option.
Updated in June 2021: The project has been discontinued.
How To Convert File To Zip On Mac
iZip Archiver by Codeius Pty Ltd. is a straightforward archive application which can quickly create or unpack most common compression formats. It is also free.
How To Convert Zip File To Pdf On Mac
iPackrby Little Big Monster Inc. is a full-featured archive manager. It can quickly create or unpack .7z, .zip, .rar, .gz, .bz2 archives. You also can convert archives to other formats or even preview files without unpacking. Drag-and-drop option is also handy.
Updated in June 2021: The project has been discontinued.
Stuffit Expanderby Smith Micro Software Inc. with a minimalist design allows unzipping files by a quick drag-n-drop on the icon. WinZip, 7zx, iShrink, SimplyRAR, and other specific formats are supported. Note that only the unzip option is in place.
Any File Openerby File Opener is another useful utility displaying a lot of information about any file: date of last modification, creation date, owner, HASH information, HEX DUMPs. Though, once again, it comes only with the unarchiver feature.
Summary
| Unzip | Archive | Formats | Compatibility | Localization | |
| iZip Unarchiver | Yes | No | 31 | 10.7 or later | 6 |
| iZip Archiver | Yes | Yes | 5 | 10.5 or later | 1 |
| iPackr | Yes | Yes | 5 | 10.6 or later | 1 |
| Stuffit Expander | Yes | No | 10 | 10.8 or later | 1 |
| Any File Opener | Yes | No | 3 | 10.11 or later | 1 |
All we can add herein is that macOS built-in feature of zipping and unzipping archives is the best option for the majority of users. For those seeking more options, there are third-party applications. What are your thoughts on this? What are we missing?
Convert Rar To Zip
Read next: Antivirus software for macOS.