How to zip and unzip files on android

With the growing capacity and lowering prices of Cloud storage options, we see fewer and fewer zipped files nowadays, but if you’re still getting them (to your phone or tablet no less!) do not fret or panic - yes, you can open zipped files on Android. Of course, you can. Android is built like a mini-computer, so handling files was one of their best traits years before Apple figured out how to work computer files into iPhones.

How to unzip files on Android

Here are the easy 3 steps how to unzip any file:

1. Open your “My files” apps and locate the zipped file by navigating through the folders, or by searching its name.
   In the latest version of the app, you can easily find a category of “Compressed” files to click on and view the full list of zipped files currently saved on your phone/storage.
   

1. Click on the compressed file you want to unzip. A popup will show up.
   
   
2. Click “Extract”. You’ll see the preview of the extracted file, and will be able to select whether you want to keep the original zip or delete it after extraction (recommended).
   
   

You can reach your extracted files in the same parent folder as the compressed one. Meaning, if your zip folder was saved in “Downloads” the newly extracted folder will be saved into “Downloads” as well.

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How to zip files on Adnroid

If you wish to create a zip file in order to send it over email / message, you can do it too. We urge you to look into a cloud solution, but if you're dealing with a third party who's not so willing to change their ways, no worries - Android can accommodate this need too. 

1. Open your “My files” apps and locate the files you’d like to compress by navigating through the folders, or by searching the folder name.
2. Select one or more files to compress, then click on the 3 dots on the bottom right.
3. Click “Compress” to continue.
4. Rename your compressed folder (it will be saved in the same folder = same screen you’re on right now)
   Click “compress” again to finalize. It might take up to a few minutes to compress your selected images and files.
5. Once zipped, you can now send this as an attachment in emails / apps that allow zip attachments.

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You can also use a dedicated app for zipping files - try WinZip, iZip or Alzip. All three of them are great and do pretty much the same job, as long as you're not a heavy user, the functionality of each specific one will not make a big difference to you. If you are an avid use of compressed files, looks into Pro versions of those apps to explore additional features that might prove helpful for you.