How to open or create a zip file from iPhone and iPad

Until relatively recently, a compressed file in .zip format on our iPhone or iPad was impossible to open if we did not go to a third-party app. Fortunately, nowadays compressed files in this format can be handled without problem on our devices, either to open or compress them from the Files app, although also from the download managers of our browsers. This tutorial will deal with how to open and compress files in .zip format on our iPhone and iPad using the native tools that iOS and iPadOS 13 have.

Unfortunately, to work with compressed .rar files it is still not possible to do it without using an external app from the App Store. In any case, apps like iZip will allow us to manage these files without problems.

How to open .zip files downloaded from the internet

To get started, in Safari, click on the link of the file you want to download. A pop-up window will appear and ask you if you want to download the file it links to, we will click on «Download».

In the event that we are working with Chrome, when we click on the link, a pop-up window will appear in which we will select “Open in …”, and then, in the list that will appear, we will descend to the bottom to select “Save in Records”. In Chrome in this step you can decide where you want it to be saved, in Safari it will be automatically saved in the «Downloads» folder of «Files».

When the download is complete we must access the app «Files», and as previously indicated to the «Downloads» folder in the case that we use Safari or to the destination folder that we have selected if we have downloaded the file using Chrome.

Once we have our downloaded .zip file located We simply have to click on it, and it will automatically unzip. The resulting files will appear in a new folder with the same name as the original .zip file. When we open it, we will have all the contents of the compressed file there.

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How to open a .zip file that we have received by mail

Although the file that we want to unzip is an email attachment (this is quite common to send several elements as a single file by email) the process that we are going to follow is very similar. Once we have opened the email and we have the attached file, we will click on it to display a full screen zipped folder icon and We will click on «Preview content» again.

Automatically you can preview on the screen by sliding the content to the right and left that was inside that file and that the device can visualize, and pclicking on the «Share» button you can save the one that interests you. On the other hand if you prefer to see the content as a list You can change the view to this by clicking on the button «Table of contents», Bottom right.

How to create a compressed .zip folder on iOS and iPadOS

To start with this It is important to know that we need to have all the files that we want to compress in the same location within the “Files” app, so they must all be in the same folder to continue. Once you have this prepared, the steps that follow are really simple.

Located in the folder containing the files to compress we are going to click on «Select» In the upper right corner, this will change the mode to the selection mode. Now we will press selecting all the files that we want to include in the compressed folder, or in the case that they are going to be all those who are in that location, we will click on «Select all» in the upper left corner. Once with all the files to compress selected we are going to click on the button «More options», which is a button in the lower right corner that is represented as a circle with three dots inside. When pressing a drop-down menu will open that will say «Copy» or «Compress», we will select «Compress». A new folder will automatically appear in this location with the name “File” that will contain all the elements that we have selected to be compressed in .zip. Now if we wish, we just have to change the name to the one of our choice and we would already have our compressed folder.

The operation is exactly the same on iPadOS

This function of being able to compress files is really useful when having to share them by whatever means, since it allows us to put different types of file together in one and transfer them as a whole block.