How To View ZIP Files
The following five steps for downloading and unzipping ZIP
files work for most browsers:
- Click on the link with the right or left mouse button.
- Choose the appropriate action in the popup or dialog box for saving the ZIP
file to your computer.
- Download the ZIP file to a folder on your computer.
- Use a ZIP file utility to extract the compressed file(s).
- View the unzipped file or files using the appropriate software for the file format.
The ZIP file format combines a set of separate files into a single compressed binary file
referred to as an archive. Because the archive can contain more than one file in compressed
format, the ZIP format has become one of the most common ways to transfer files over the
Internet. In order to decompress the files stored in ZIP format, the ZIP file first must
be downloaded to a PC and then a file utility must be used to extract the individual files
from the compressed binary format. Many file utilities are available to "unzip" file in ZIP
format in the form of freeware, shareware, and commercial software.