As smartphones and tablets become more powerful, it’s common for them to be used as a primary device in place of laptop and desktop computers. Even though many tasks that were once the exclusive domain of traditional computers are intuitive to accomplish on your smartphone, some tasks, like unzipping a compressed file, aren’t as simple to manage on an Android device, even if you have one ofthe best Android tablets.
How to zip and unzip files on your Chromebook
ChromeOS doesn’t require a third-party solution to zip and unzip files
How to unzip files on a smartphone or tablet
When it comes to opening ZIP files on your phone, you might not have access to desktop tools like 7zip, but you have options. Most file manager apps have basic decompression functionality, but if you want a full feature set, you’ll need to turn to a third-party app on the Google Play Store dedicated to handling archive files.
How to unzip a file using Files by Google
The easiest way to open a ZIP file on an Android phone is with the Files by Google app (formerly just the Files app). It’s primarily a file management tool, but it also functions as a ZIP extractor.
After your files are extracted from the ZIP file, you’ll find them in the same directory as the original ZIP file.
How to unzip a file using RAR
If you’ve been using a computer for a while, you probably remember installing WinRAR on every operating system between Windows 95 and Windows 10. RAR is made by the same people, and it’s one of the best at what it does. After you’ve opened the app and moved to the directory where you downloaded your archive file, you have a few options to extract your files.
The simplest way is to long press the archive file you want to decompress. This opens a modal window with some options for you to choose from.
Alternatively, you may use the on-screen icon to open your archive file.
you’re able to also elect to only extract some of the files in your archive file.
RAR has a shallow learning curve and acts as a simple file manager in a pinch.
How to unzip a file using ZArchiver
ZArchiver is another great unzipping app that’s been around for over 10 years, has over 100 million installs, and has good reviews.
ZArchiver and RAR can handle decompressing more file types than Files by Google, although Files by Google is a better file manager. If you’re only worried about unzipping files, RAR has a slight edge over ZArchiver because it lets you select which files to extract from an archive. It also handles decompressing more than one file at a time.
File type compatibility
Files by Google
How to zip files on a smartphone or tablet
Compressing files is a great way to manage file size, but it’s also a good way to simplify sending multiple files at once through your Gmail. It’s a good reason to get a dedicated unzipping Android app since many file managers (such as Files by Google) can unzip files but can’t compress them.
How to compress a file using RAR
How to compress a file using ZArchiver
Begin by opening ZArchiver and going to the directory that contains the files you want to compress.
To compress one file:
Tap the file you wish to compress. Then, from the pop-up menu, select whether to compress the file to ZIP, 7z, or another format. If you selectCompress to *.ziporCompress to *.7z, your archive file is created in the current directory. If you selectCompress, choose where your archive file will be saved.
To compress more than one file:
To compress a directory:
The biggest advantage ZArchiver has over RAR is its ability to create more file types. RAR can only create RAR and ZIP files, whereas ZArchiver can create TAR, 7z, and many more file types.
This is ourselves under compression
When you wrap your head around the basic process to zip and unzip a file, you can manage it in any app, whether it’s on Android, iPhone, MacOS, or Windows. File compression is great for making large files smaller and for archiving and compressing multiple files into one file. This compression is popular for saving bandwidth when you send a file, but if you want more storage space on your phone, check out ourguide to freeing up space on your phone or tablet.
