Although for the vast majority of users, compressed files are common and a type used daily, there are still many who, when receiving such a file, find that they do not know very well how they can open them on their computer. The truth is that today we can use a lot of tools to compress and decompress files, but the truth is that there are other options to open this type of file on our PC. Next, we are going to show you different ways to open compressed files in Windows 10.
The truth is that the latest version of the Microsoft operating system has a tool fully integrated into the system that allows you to compress and open compressed .ZIP files with great comfort and without having to install any other tool on your computer.
Now, if we prefer it or if the files we want to open are compressed in another format, then we will have no choice but to resort to some third-party tool. Finally, we will also show how to open compressed files in Windows 10 as if they were folders in the system’s own file explorer.
With Windows 10’s own function
By default, the latest version of Microsoft’s operating system has a tool that allows us to compress and decompress .ZIP files. It is a utility that is completely integrated into the system, to the point of being able to access it from the context menu of Windows 10.
Therefore, if we receive or download a .ZIP file, we can simply open it by simply clicking on it with the right mouse button and choosing the Extract all option from the context menu. This will open a window in which we can choose the path where we want the files contained in the compressed file to be saved and after clicking Extract , it will automatically begin with the extraction of all the files that the .ZIP file contains.
Just as we can open compressed files in .ZIP format with the system’s own tool, it is also possible to compress files in this same format in the same way. The only thing we have to do is select all those files that we want to compress and then, we click on one of them with the right mouse button and select the Send to> Compressed folder (in zip) option. If we compress them in this way, we can open them directly by double-clicking on them without any problem.
Free applications to open compressed files
There is no doubt that WinZip and WinRAR are the most popular compressors and decompressors when we talk about tools to open compressed files, however, there are two tools that, although they have a free trial version, after enjoying this period, they force us to check out to continue using them. However, there are other free applications to open compressed files in Windows 10.
PeaZip
It is a free and open source tool that has long become one of the most widely used compressors and decompressors for opening compressed files in Windows 10. It supports almost any type of compressed file, up to almost 200 different formats , and also offers other interesting functions to manage all the files within a compressed file. PeaZip Download
7-Zip
For many it is one of the best free and open source compressors and decompressors that exist today. If we have used other programs of this type, the truth is that its interface will be quite familiar. It offers compatibility with the main formats and offers the possibility of compressing files in several different formats.
It should also be noted that 7-Zip has a tool that offers the possibility of dividing a compressed file into equal parts, allowing each part to be saved in different storage devices if we do not have one that has total space. Download 7-Zip .
Bandizip
If we want to open compressed files in Windows 10 quickly, Bandizip is a great alternative. It is a tool that stands out mainly for that, for being able to perform a compression or decompression of files quickly and efficiently. The algorithms used offer a high speed of archiving files and it is also compatible with the most popular compression formats such as Zip, 7z or RAR among many others. Bandizip Download
IZARC
IZARC is another tool to open compressed files in Windows 10 that we can get for free. It is a free but not open source software, compatible with the Microsoft operating system and that allows us to compress and decompress files of different formats, including 7-zip, Zip, or RAR. Its interface is very friendly and easy to use, it has the AES 256 encryption capacity to protect files with confidential information and it is capable of opening image files such as ISO, BIN or CDI. IZARC Download
Access compressed files from the browser
Now, if what we are looking for is the greatest possible comfort when opening compressed files in Windows 10, we are going to show you a tool that will surely be to our liking. This is TC4Shell, an application that allows you to open compressed files in different formats as if it were just another folder on your computer. In this way, it will not be necessary to have different file decompression tools installed on the computer depending on their format.
TC4Shell supports 7Z, Zip, Rar, Cab, Sqx, Tar, Gzip, Bzip2, ISO and WIM file formats, among others. Therefore, once we have the tool installed on the computer, any file compressed in one of these formats can be opened from the Windows file explorer as if it were just another folder.
But that’s not all, since it also allows you to copy, delete, edit or even execute files directly without having to use other applications to previously decompress them. TC4Shell integrates seamlessly with Windows File Explorer. Once installed with a simple click we can access compressed files just as we do to open any folder on our computer. It also offers the possibility of moving, copying, pasting, editing or deleting files from within without having to unzip them. We can download TC4Shell from this link completely free of charge.
