Are my archives uploaded to extract them?

No. The ZIP is read and decompressed in your browser, and files are written straight to your downloads. Nothing is transmitted, which is worth having given how often an emailed archive contains documents that should not be handed to a third party.

Can these tools open RAR or 7z files?

ZIP is the format supported here, because it is the one with an open specification and a well-tested browser implementation. RAR in particular is a proprietary format whose decompressor is not freely redistributable, so a browser tool cannot honestly claim to handle it.

Is a password-protected ZIP supported?

Encrypted entries cannot be extracted here. That is a limitation worth stating plainly rather than working around, and in practice it points at the better answer: use a modern encrypted container rather than ZIP's own encryption, which was never strong.

2 tools · runs in your browser

Archive Tools

Create and extract ZIP archives in the browser, one file or a whole batch.

Files never leave your device
No sign-up
Free, no watermarks

Popular:ZIP Extractor ZIP Creator

All Archive Tools

Grouped by what you want to get done. Star a tool to find it again on the homepage.

Open archives · List and extract what is inside a ZIP.

ZIP Extractor

Extract files from ZIP archives entirely in browser, no upload needed

Create archives · Pack files and folders into one ZIP archive.

ZIP Creator

Compress multiple files into a ZIP archive right in your browser

Often used alongside these, from other categories.

About these Archive Tools

A ZIP file is a container with an index: each entry is compressed independently and listed in a directory at the end of the file. That design is why an archive can be inspected without decompressing all of it, and why a single ZIP can be built in a browser from files that never leave your disk. Extraction and creation both happen in the tab here, which is the relevant property when the archive is a set of documents you were emailed.

Choosing between these Archive Tools

Already-compressed files do not compress again

JPEG, PNG, MP4, MP3 and PDF are all compressed formats. Zipping them produces a file roughly the same size, because the entropy has already been squeezed out. ZIP is still worth it there for bundling many files into one, just not for size.

Zipping is not protecting

A plain ZIP offers no confidentiality: every entry name is visible in the directory and every file is recoverable. Legacy ZIP encryption is weak enough to be treated as broken. If the contents need protecting, encrypt them before archiving.

Check the archive's structure before extracting

Some archives contain a single top-level folder; others scatter dozens of files into whatever directory you extract to. Listing the entries first tells you which kind you have, and saves cleaning up a download folder afterwards.

Questions people ask

Are my archives uploaded to extract them?: No. The ZIP is read and decompressed in your browser, and files are written straight to your downloads. Nothing is transmitted, which is worth having given how often an emailed archive contains documents that should not be handed to a third party.
Can these tools open RAR or 7z files?: ZIP is the format supported here, because it is the one with an open specification and a well-tested browser implementation. RAR in particular is a proprietary format whose decompressor is not freely redistributable, so a browser tool cannot honestly claim to handle it.
Is a password-protected ZIP supported?: Encrypted entries cannot be extracted here. That is a limitation worth stating plainly rather than working around, and in practice it points at the better answer: use a modern encrypted container rather than ZIP's own encryption, which was never strong.

Guides on this topic

MIME types, magic bytes and why a file opens as the wrong thingAn upload rejects your PNG for not being a PNG. The extension says one thing, the first eight bytes say another, and the server believes the bytes.Why zipping your photos saves nothing, and what to do insteadZipping a folder of holiday photos and watching it shrink by 0.4% is not a broken tool. It is the correct answer to the wrong question.Verifying a download with a checksum: how, and what it actually provesChecking a hash takes fifteen seconds and catches both a truncated download and a compromised mirror. It does not catch everything, here is the boundary.