WinZip is the most popular and trusted way to work with compressed files.

No other compression utility offers the easy, comprehensive, and productive approach that has made WinZip the gold standard for file-compression tools. With WinZip, PC users can quickly and securely zip and unzip files to conserve storage space, speed up e-mail transmission, and reduce download times. State-of-the-art file compression, strong AES encryption, compatibility with more compression formats, and comprehensive solutions for photo compression, management and sharing make WinZip the complete solution for the compression and archiving needs of any home and business user today. WinZip is available in Standard, Backup, and Pro Editions so you can choose the level of solutions that is best for you. The Standard Edition provides all the tools needed to quickly and easily compress and Zip files in a variety of ways and to effortlessly open the most common archive files used. Also, strong AES encryption is included and allows users to password-protect Zip files to protect confidential information. The Backup Edition delivers all of the features of the Standard Edition plus it is packed with powerful tools to automate routine tasks such as backing up data, archiving files, burning Zip files to CD/DVD, and uploading Zip files to online FTP sites. WinZip Backup also provides administrators in a business or enterprise environment the ability to deploy and enforce password policy requirements when using WinZip. The Pro Edition delivers all of the features of the Backup Edition plus it is packed with powerful tools to transfer, view, rotate, and resize photos and images. WinZip Pro also provides tools to easily deploy and configure WinZip in a business or enterprise environment. See our Features Comparison chart for a list of key features found in WinZip Standard and Pro Editions. Visit the What's New topic to learn about WinZip's newest features. Check out the Brief Tutorials for more information on how to use the features in WinZip. WinZip requires Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7. No other programs are required to add or extract files from Zip files. You can also create self-extracting Zip files with WinZip Self-Extractor Personal Edition, included with WinZip. However, if you need advanced self-extracting Zip file capabilities (such as the ability to create installation self-extracting Zip files) you may be interested in WinZip Self-Extractor, a companion product, which includes features tailored for software distribution and the ability to create a single self-extracting Zip file that can be run under Windows. If you are interested in information on installing WinZip multi-user licenses in a networked environment, please see the WinZip web site. Should you wish to uninstall WinZip: Windows Vista and Windows 7

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Click Control Panel from the Start menu to activate the Control Panel. In the Control Panel, click Uninstall a program (located under Programs). Click the WinZip entry in the list of programs to select it. Click Uninstall.

Windows 2000 and Windows XP 1. Activate the Control Panel: o In Windows 2000, click Start, then Settings, then Control Panel. o In Windows XP, click Control Panel from the Start menu. 2. In the Control Panel, double click Add/Remove Programs. 3. Click the WinZip entry in the list of programs. 4. Click Remove. Technical details The "Uninstall WinZip" procedure performs the following steps: 1. Verifies that it is safe to uninstall. 2. Deletes files in the WinZip folder if they were installed by this version of WinZip. 3. Removes any WinZip icons, WinZip desktop shortcut, WinZip Start menu entries, and WinZip Quick Pick. 4. Removes the WinZip entry from the registry. Note: some files, including WINZIP32.EXE, may not be deleted until the next time the computer is restarted. There are several ways to get to know WinZip quickly and easily--each tailored to a different style of learning. Choose one or more of the following approaches

If you haven't installed WinZip yet, see WinZip Installation for brief installation instructions. Take a look at the Quick Start Guide, which introduces file compression terminology, describes the installation process, and takes a first look at basic WinZip operations. Some users just like to dive right in! If you have experience with archives and Windows, you might want to do just that. Context-sensitive help is available at any time by pressing the F1 key. You can get an overview of the primary operations of WinZip from the Brief Tutorial. The WinZip Wizard leads you through the process of zipping or unzipping using a series of panels or pages in a special window, commonly known as a "wizard." This convenient alternative interface for WinZip can help to simplify zipping, unzipping and installing software.

Don't miss some of the other topics of interest that can help you get started:

See Using the Explorer Interface for specific examples of how WinZip integrates with the Windows shell. Using Drag and Drop describes a useful WinZip feature. Be sure to give it a try!

The section on Hints and Tips lists many helpful ideas for using WinZip.

This Guide introduces some file compression terms, describes some of the initial steps in installing WinZip, and provides a first look at using some WinZip features. For additional information, see the tutorials that come with WinZip, the WinZip help file, and the WinZip web site.

What is an Archive or Zip File, Anyway?

Zip files (.zip or .zipx) are "archives" used for storing and distributing files, and can contain one or more files. Usually the files "archived" in a Zip file are compressed to save space. Zip files are often used to:

Distribute files on the Internet: Only one Zip file transfer operation (download) is required to obtain all related files, and file transfer is quicker because the archived files are compressed. Send a group of related files to an associate: When you distribute the collection of files as an archive, you benefit from the file grouping and compression as well. Save disk space: If you have large files that are important but seldom used, such as large data files, simply compress these files into an archive and then unzip (or "extract") them only when needed.

What Does WinZip Do?

WinZip makes it easy for Windows users to work with archives. WinZip features an intuitive point-and-click drag-and-drop interface for viewing, running, extracting, adding, and deleting files in archives with a standard Windows interface, and also provides a Wizard interface that further simplifies the process of working with Zip files.

About WinZip's Setup Options

During the WinZip setup procedure you are asked to select either the WinZip Classic interface or the WinZip Wizard interface.

WinZip Classic: The powerful WinZip Classic interface is preferred if you have a general understanding of Windows and of Zip files. Most users will be quite comfortable with its Explorer-like interface once the basics of Zip files are understood. WinZip Wizard: The WinZip Wizard guides you through some of the most common operations involving Zip files. If you are new to Windows or unfamiliar with Zip files, you may wish to start with the Wizard and switch later to the more powerful Classic interface.

In the following sections we will describe the Classic and Wizard interfaces. With either interface, the setup panels provide information about the options offered. Whichever setup option you choose, you can easily switch between the two interfaces at any time with a single click, and you can always change the default settings later.

Using WinZip Classic

Here is a brief introduction to some of the features of WinZip Classic. Quick Unzipping with WinZip Classic 1. In the WinZip window, click the Open toolbar button or choose Open Archive from the File menu. The Open Archive dialog will appear. 2. In the Open Archive dialog, locate the archive you want to unzip, then click Open. The contents of the archive will be displayed in the WinZip window. 3. To extract files from the archive, click the Extract toolbar button or choose Extract from the Actions menu. The Extract dialog will appear. 4. In the box labeled Extract to, choose the folder where you want to place the extracted files and click Extract. That's it--you have extracted the contents of the archive to the chosen folder. You can now work with the extracted files, select another activity within WinZip, or close the WinZip window. Note: You can also extract files from an archive in the WinZip Classic window by dragging them to the desktop or to the desired folder in Windows Explorer. Quick Zipping with WinZip Classic 1. In the WinZip window, click the New toolbar button or choose New Archive from the File menu. The New Archive dialog will appear. 2. In the New Archive dialog, specify the location where you want to create the archive and type the name you want to use for your new archive, then click OK. The Add dialog will appear. 3. In the Add dialog, select the files that you want to add to your new archive and click Add. That's it--you have created a new archive. You can now examine the contents of your new archive, select another activity within WinZip, or close the WinZip window. Note: You can also add files to an archive by dragging the files from My Computer or Windows Explorer and dropping them on the WinZip window. WinZip Classic Tips

You can view the contents of most documents in an archive (such as Microsoft Word documents and Excel spreadsheets) by just double-clicking them in the WinZip Classic window. You can extract files from an archive in the WinZip Classic window by dragging them to the desired folder in Windows Explorer or to the desktop. Using WinZip Classic's Help menu, you can: o work with the built-in Brief Tutorial to get acquainted with more of WinZip's features o view collections of Hints and Tips o find answers to Frequently Asked Questions

Using the WinZip Wizard

First-time setup If you are installing WinZip for the first time and chose the Wizard interface during installation, WinZip will perform a one-time setup procedure the first time it runs. This procedure helps WinZip locate the Zip files you have stored on your computer. You will see the Search for Favorite Zip Folders panel. We recommend that you choose Search Entire Hard Disk and then click Next. You will see the search progress and then a panel that indicates how many folders were added to your Favorite Zip Folders. After this one-time setup, WinZip will proceed to the Select Activity panel, described below. Using the Wizard You can start a WinZip session using the Start menu, the WinZip icon on your desktop, or the WinZip item in the All Programs menu. Click Next in the welcome panel to reach the Select Activity panel. Here is a brief introduction to the features of the WinZip Wizard. Quick Unzipping with the WinZip Wizard 1. In the Select Activity panel, choose Unzip or install from an existing Zip file and click Next. 2. In the Select Zip File panel, click on the Zip file you want to work with and click Next. The Unzip panel will appear. 3. In the Unzip panel, click Unzip Now to unzip (extract) the files in the archive. The WinZip Wizard will open a Windows Explorer window showing the unzipped files. That's it--you've just unzipped a Zip file using the WinZip Wizard. You can now work with the unzipped files, or click Next to select another activity within WinZip, or close the WinZip Wizard window. Quick Zipping with the WinZip Wizard 1. In the Select Activity panel, choose Create a new Zip file and click Next. 2. In the Choose Zip Name panel, type the name you want to use for your new Zip file and click Next. For example, if you are creating a Zip file that will contain some files related to yearly reports, you might type "1999 reports" as the name for your Zip file. 3. In the Select Files panel, click Add files to choose the files you want to add to the Zip file. Select the files you want to add and click OK. 4. Click Zip Now to create the new Zip file. That's it--you've just created a Zip file using the WinZip Wizard. You can now click the WinZip Classic button if you would like to examine the contents of your new archive, or click Next to select another activity within WinZip, or close the WinZip Wizard window.

WinZip Classic and Wizard: Switching Interfaces

You can easily switch between the WinZip Classic and WinZip Wizard interfaces with a single mouse click. Here's how:

In WinZip Classic: to switch to the WinZip Wizard interface, click the Wizard button at the right end of the toolbar. In WinZip Wizard: to switch to the WinZip Classic interface, click the WinZip Classic button at the lower left.

Zip and Unzip Files without Leaving Windows Explorer

Using WinZip's Explorer interface, you can access most of WinZip's functionality directly from My Computer, Windows Explorer, or the desktop. Here is how to zip and unzip files directly from Explorer; be sure to see the WinZip help for more things you can do, including Zip and E-Mail. To create an archive: select the file(s) you want to compress in Windows Explorer, right click, choose WinZip, and then click Add to Zip file from the submenu menu that appears. To extract files from an archive: select the archive in Windows Explorer, and either:

right click and choose Extract to from the WinZip menu, or right click and drag the archive onto the folder where you want it extracted, and then choose an extract option from the WinZip menu.

Contacting Technical Support

The best way to ask questions or report problems is to send a message to the e-mail address shown on the WinZip web site's contact page.

About Zip Files and Other Archives

What is an Archive? Archives are files that contain other files. Typically the files in an archive are compressed. Archives usually have file names ending with ZIP, ZIPX, LZH, LHA, GZ or CAB, depending on how they were created. Archives make it easy to group files and make transporting and copying these files faster. Typical Uses for Archives:

Most files available on the Internet and on electronic services like America Online are distributed as archives. Two benefits of using archives for electronic file distribution are that only one file transfer operation ("download") is required to obtain all related files and file transfer time is minimized because the files in an archive are compressed. It is often useful to send a group of related files to an associate. Rather than distributing individual files it is often easier to distribute the files as an archive to benefit from the file grouping and compression. Some files are important but not used often. To save disk space simply compress these files into an archive when they are not used and decompress them only when needed.

What is a Self-Extracting Zip File? A self-extracting Zip file is an executable program file (.EXE file) that includes both a Zip file and software to extract or "unzip" the contents of the Zip file. Users can extract the contents of a self-extracting Zip file by simply running it. This is convenient because the end user does not need an unzip program (like WinZip) to extract files from these self-extracting archives. WinZip Self-Extractor Personal Edition, included with WinZip, creates Windows selfextracting Zip files. Archive formats:

Zip files are the most common archive format. Zip files can span multiple disks and provide both compression and file grouping. Zip files created by WinZip can have a .zip or .zipx file extension. TAR, Z, GZ, TAZ, and TGZ files are often found on Unix-based Internet sites. TAR stands for "Tape ARchive". The TAR format does not provide compression; it is used only to group files. GZ and Z files are gzip files. GZ and Z files cannot contain multiple files. TAZ and TGZ files are TAR files compressed in the gzip format. Since almost all new archives are created in Zip format, WinZip does not provide facilities to add to or create files in these formats (however, all other WinZip functions are supported). File formats such as UUencoded, XXencoded, BinHex, and MIME are used primarily to transfer binary files by Internet e-mail. If you encounter one of these files, you can open it and extract its contents with WinZip. You can UUencode an archive using the UUencode entry in the WinZip Actions pull-down menu. WinZip also handles most files in the old Microsoft Compress format (also known as LZEXPAND format). However, there are several variations on this format, and Microsoft has not released documentation on these variations. WinZip issues an appropriate message if you attempt to decompress a file not supported by your version of Windows. Microsoft Compress files usually end with a trailing underscore, for example, "commdlg.dl_". Like Z and GZ files, Microsoft Compress format files contain only one file. This format is used for many files on the Windows 3.1 distribution disks and many older Microsoft products. Note that not all files ending with an underscore are Microsoft Compress format files. The Microsoft CAB (short for Cabinet) format is used by most Microsoft setup programs, including those used to install Windows. CAB files provide both file compression and file grouping. You can use WinZip to open and extract the contents of CAB files. WinZip will handle most self-extracting CAB files. LZH and LHA are older file formats that provide both grouping and compression, like Zip files. Files with the .BZ2 extension represent individual files that have been compressed using the bzip2 program typically found on UNIX or Linux systems. Bzip2 is a data compressor and not an archiver. Therefore, .BZ2 files do not contain multiple files. WinZip does not provide facilities to create .BZ2 files, but you can use WinZip to open and extract the contents of .BZ2 files. RAR is a compression and archiving format. The compression technology is proprietary however the decompression technology is not. WinZip does not create .rar files, but WinZip can view and extract the contents of .rar files. 7Z is a compression and archiving format. The compression technology is proprietary; however, the decompression technology is publicly available under the GNU Lesser General Public License. WinZip does not create .7z files, but WinZip can view and extract the contents of .7z files.

IMG is an archive format used for creating images of disks. The images can then be stored and used to restore the disks. WinZip does not create .img files, but it can view and extract the contents of .img files. ISO is an archive format that is used to make images of optical disks. These images can be stored and used to replicate the disks. WinZip does not create .iso files, but it can view and extract the contents of .iso files.

UUencoded, XXencoded, BinHex, and MIME files

WinZip can open and extract UUencoded, XXencoded, BinHex, and MIME files (base64, plain/text, and quoted-printable) and can UUencode files. This section explains the need for these features and abilities, includes instructions for using them, and shows how they can bring a whole new dimension to your e-mail operations. Use the Back and Next links or the index below to page through this tutorial and learn about using these important and useful WinZip features. These instructions assume that you understand basic Windows and WinZip operations and the basic use of your e-mail program.