Zip and Unzip Files On a Mac

macmost.com/e-2841 Learn how to zip and unzip files on your Mac, including how to create password-protected ZIP files. It is easy to compress a single file or multiple files and folders into a ZIP file archive on your Mac. You can also decompress any ZIP file by simply double-clicking it. The Archive Utility is used invisibly for both commands, and there are some settings you can access. If you want to create password-protected ZIP files, you can do it with the Terminal.
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00:00 Intro
00:57 Create a ZIP Archive
02:06 Extract Files From a ZIP Archive
02:45 Better Naming
03:31 Using Archive Utility
04:03 UnZIP Settings
05:33 Create Password-Protected ZIP Files
07:53 UnZIP Password-Protected ZIP Files
#macmost #zipfiles #compression

[@Mega_Casual]

Thanks Gary. One last tip on zipping is, (For advanced users) once you are in terminal, you can type in: man zip Then you will get a full list of all the ways to use the zip command and their command line options.

[@TheEricBooth]

Useful as always. Always learn something new with each video.

[@psuchemousike]

Thank you for being so thorough and empathetic with users not really liking the use of Terminal and assuring us it' s not too hard to do.😊

[@jimalix6270]

Very useful video, Gary! Using the Terminal to encrypt a zip file was especially helpful. Thanks!

[@Waldo_Ilowiecki]

hi Gary, how cool that you keep coming up with something new and useful.

[@xcharlybrownx13]

Video is perfect, you get straight to the point and shows us how easy it is

[@mellanytravers6544]

Most helpful! Finally manage it via Terminal .. thanks to your tutorial.

[@loisskiathitis8926]

A very useful and informative video tutorial today! A very interesting video class topic! Thank you, Gary!👏🏻❤️

[@georgee3401]

Excellent tutorial as usual. I learned a great deal from this video. Many thanks!

[@pissedmeoff]

always wanted to learn to do this. thanks gary!

[@dumengyue2401]

Helpful! Thanks!

[@kg3474]

Thank you!

[@carolinebarlow4795]

Thanks very much, Gary, for another great video. This was extremely helpful!

[@garynagle3093]

Great video. Never knew about the password trick

[@user-ws6et5it4k]

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! simple and straight to the point. you dont waste our time too. thank you for this useful video

[@diegoi1313]

Great video, thank you for the upload!

[@desertpatient]

Thanks bunches

[@sistersauthorsfriendsincanada]

Thank you! My Macbook Pro kept opening a new folder window every time I unzipped a compressed file, which got to be quite annoying when there were many compressed files I had to open for a project. Any directions I found to stop it from doing this were way, WAY more complicated than yours! Thank you so much!! Got it done in less than 30 seconds! You RAWK! 😀

[@josewantland]

Hi Gary, Thank you for another awesome video, Btw, I don't know what you did but I like your cleaner looks.

[@razvanmihai4884]

Great tutorial, Gary. I did not realize there was a dedicated native app dealing with zipping/unzipping files. Now I know. Congrats on the black background. It looks modern, and it is now easier to follow your instructions without any other distractions!

[@macmost]

Ha. That was a mistake. You don't like the background texture I usually use?

[@JayanthSahasranamamula]

@@macmost I'm not the original commentor, but I just want to say - thiis just looks more natural.

[@razvanmihai4884]

@@macmost Ha. I find it more modern and fresh, it keeps you in the spotlight, but perhaps most importantly, it makes watching your videos easier on the eyes! Keep making good mistakes.

[@macmost]

@@razvanmihai4884 No, I'll stick with the animated texture. I think this looks too amateurish with a solid background. Plus it will only work some of the time depending on what I'm doing. At other times it would require perfect green screen lighting and I'd rather be making the tutorials not spending lots of time adjusting that every day. The animated background hides the imperfections.

[@JanH1052]

informative👌

[@KevonialJemonathoy]

Yay for English!

[@lukajeliciclux3074]

Can You have other zip types like Gzip, Bzip2 etc.

[@macmost]

Try them with the utility, but if they don't work you'd need another app or just use the Terminal.

[@lukajeliciclux3074]

@@macmost I will try it definitly when and if I get a Mac.

[@inlightofnature6348]

Thank you. I am trying to unzip a .zip file and have the decompressed files retain their folder structure. It does not seem to work from Archive. I will dig into how to use zip from the command line to retain the folder structure.

[@Barkis53]

Another great tutorial. Two questions: (1) do you think it would possible to create a shortcut to do the terminal stuff if you need a password or is this a bit too complicated? (2) yours have to be some of the best 'how to' videos I watch but I watch others for other systems, apps and stuff. They're so often faffing about what they had for breakfast, how they're feeling, etc, etc, where I just want them to give me the stuff. Every thought about offering a course on how to make a clear, efficient 'how to' video?

[@macmost]

There is a checkbox in the Shell Script action for requires admin access. Just use that. No, I don't think a course on how to make courses is something I'd do.

[@dr.limouni]

Clean explanation as always especially the terminal part 👍 What about extracting a file that is splitted into multiple zip files, is there any easy way to do it on mac?.. In Windows you just have to double click on any part of the file and it will decompress/assemble them automatically, but in mac i think it's a bit tricky! Thanks for your useful videos Gary please keep up...👍

[@macmost]

Not sure. I've not had to work with one of those. What happens when you try it? I suppose you could do it in Terminal if you knew the right command. Or, perhaps there is an app in the App Store that handles it.

[@sundaynightdrunk]

First video I've ever seen discussing this in MacOS. I wondered what app was doing the zipping/unzipping, but it happens so fast I've never caught the app doing it. I wonder if a Shortcut could be created to created password-protected zip archives, although I don't think I've heard of Shortcuts having access to Terminal commands.

[@macmost]

Yes, there is a Shell Script Terminal command. You probably could build that, but you'd need to pass the Shortcut's input into the shell script and get the paths right. Would be a challenge.

[@badcatdesign]

Using Quick Look, I see we're still getting the invisible .DS_Store files (when Zipping multiple files) which do show up for Windows users. I wish Archive Utility had a preference to not zip those Mac-centric files.

[@EstherLWarda]

Hi Gary... thank you! While you're in Finder, is there a way to MOVE a file from one to another? For years, I've been copying, pasting, and then going BACK to the original place to delete the copied file. There must be another way. I don't know why Move To... is not a right-click option.

[@macmost]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z5qQkIKBjdB9rqM

[@Breaks4Breaks]

Sending compressed zip files can also avoids unwanted file/image corruption.

[@JavisoGaming]

I wish the archive utility allowed you to just look in the zip file within decompressing it. I have to use a third party utility for that.

[@macmost]

Got a video on that tomorrow...

[@botabob]

Gary, what happens when an iMovie library is compressed using archive?

[@macmost]

What do you mean? I wouldn't compress an iMovie Library as it contains mostly video that is already compressed. You are unlikely to get much in storage savings if that is your goal.

[@botabob]

@@macmost - OK - so what is meant by archive iMovie files? I saw archive iMovie in some of your old iMovie videos. Thanks you for your patience

[@macmost]

@@botabob OK, we are talking about two different things here. This is a video about using the Archive Utility to create compressed ZIP archives of files. So I assumed you were asking about taking an iMovie Library and making a ZIP archive from it. Sounds like you are just talking about using multiple iMovie libraries so you can "archive" old projects to it. Two different uses for the same word.

[@marchingdime]

Would these methods work with opening a .Bin file?

[@macmost]

A bin file? What is the file? Which app created it and what content does it hold?

[@luisabelterracciano8194]

Hi Gary, I have MS suite Office installed on my Mac Pro 13. I received a zip 32 and 64.bit xll excel files in password folder zip file. I have the password and I can expand the files, but when I try to open it the excel spreadsheet does not show up. Any chance I can open it without using winzip? Thanks

[@macmost]

So what file are you trying to open? Is it a .xls file? That should open in Excel. If not, maybe there is something wrong with it.

[@DrewNelles]

Great video as always. Curious though and have never been able to find an answer with Google: just how secure are they when password protected? If I send bank details is there much of a chance it’ll get hacked (assuming a very good [strong] password? Would the US Military use it to send weapons designs? And if not, any idea what their equivalent is? Thanks. And have a great day!

[@macmost]

Not sure. It is probably fine for most purposes. But if you want something more, there are plenty of apps in the App Store that will give you strong encryption with specifics. I'm sure military and spy agencies use very strong encryption which would be overkill for you, and probably require the person on the other end to have something special to decrypt it too.

[@user-iw5qg7vc1n]

how to look into the zip folder and extract only the selected files or folders in mac as we can do the in windows.

[@macmost]

You'll need to use the Terminal to do that, or a third-party app. If you deal with ZIP files often, it is probably worth looking into some sort of app that will handle that.

[@Ikytouille]

Hello, is there a way to unzip the archive without having the folder? I unzip files exactly in the folder I want, so I do not want extra folder.

[@macmost]

You could probably do it with the right settings in the Terminal if you really need to.

[@jackstarr4726]

If I zip video files on a Mac will I free up much memory space? Will the video files be 100% unchanged when I unzip them later?

[@macmost]

No. First, it would be storage that you save, not memory. But most videos files are already using compression, so zipping them won't save you any more space.

[@jackstarr4726]

@@macmost Thank you very much! ;)

[@HealthWise-pr2ku]

hello im new to mac so please excuse me, how do i lock the zip file after i have opened and viewed the files so the files are secure once again again, thank you in advance

[@macmost]

Are you using some special app to view the contents of the zip file? If so, simple "close" the file. But if you are just double-clicking it, then it prompts you for a password, and then it extracts the contents... then the zip file is always secure. But the files you extracted from it are now just regular files. Delete them I suppose. But perhaps zip files aren't what you are looking for in that case. What is it you are trying to DO with these protected zip files exactly?

[@andrewrussell3679]

I have monterey operating system on Mac and it won't allow me to unzip a file

[@macmost]

So when you double-click a .zip file, what happens?

[@jeremykim8183]

i can't download archive utility do you have a download link

[@macmost]

It comes with macOS. Look in Applications/Utilities

[@doomerdomenico]

I have a question because I'm having some trouble. When I unzip the file I'm trying to expand, it doesn't expand into a folder it turns in a document which I can't really do anything with.

[@macmost]

Hard to say what could be wrong. Sounds like maybe that's what is in the zip file, not what you were expecting.

[@traydevon]

Why compress files if the total file size remains the same?

[@macmost]

Sometimes for transport, like you have 200 files you want to give to someone for a project and it is easier to zip them and send one file over a server or other method. Sometimes to organize, like taking hundreds of files from an old project and zipping them for long-term storage (and avoiding having them come up in searches). Sometimes system you save or upload files to don't handle different file types well, so putting files in a zip archive keeps them intact as they travel. Sometimes to encrypt them. Sometimes you just get a zip archive from someone and the reason isn't clear, but you still need to unzip it.

[@traydevon]

@@macmost Thank you for the reply. I agree based on the time-savings if you need to attach many files.

[@asbestosflake5749]

I’m trying to unzip photos on my MacBook 💻 that I downloaded from iCloud. BUT it says “unsupported format”. Any ideas?

[@macmost]

Maybe something wrong with those files? Or they weren't completely downloaded. Doesn't matter where you downloaded them from, it is what created the zip files in the first place. Not sure what you mean by "downloaded from iCloud" though. Are these in the Finder, or are you using the iCloud web site?

[@asbestosflake5749]

@@macmost thanks. I signed into the iCloud website and selected photos to download. It seemed to download a zip file which I assumed was fully downloaded. Not sure if there’s a way to check if the file is fully downloaded?

[@macmost]

@@asbestosflake5749 Click on the Downloads button at the top of Safari to see the progress. Or just look closely at the file in the Finder and it will show it there too.

[@whereisyorick]

Anyone has encountered the problem "Error 0" when trying to open a zip file?

[@user-lr5cx1ni4r]

I am so confused. LOL. I need one for super dummies. I'm trying to make a compressed file to upload to etsy.

[@macmost]

Not sure what Etsy expects, but you can just select some files and choose File, Compress.

[@man-bagdammit2297]

I can't believe how annoyingly difficult it is to encrypt a zip file on a Mac. Using Terminal for novice users is a little daunting. It should be easier.

[@macmost]

But "novice" users wouldn't encrypt a zip file. What's the use case for that?

[@carlozlobo1]

Gary you are Effing Awesome! saved my A$$ again!!!!!!!