How to open a ZIP file on Windows, Mac, and Chromebook

Every major desktop system can open a .zip without extra software. Here's how on each — and what to do when the built-in tool falls short.

Windows 10 and 11

Windows has handled .zip files natively for years — no WinZip or WinRAR needed for a standard archive.

Find the .zip in File Explorer.
Right-click it and choose Extract All…
Pick a destination folder (or accept the default) and click Extract.
To peek inside without extracting, just double-click the archive to browse it like a folder.

Windows 11 also added native support for opening .rar and .7z archives, though creating them still uses the .zip format.

macOS uses Archive Utility, which is built in and needs no setup.

Locate the .zip in Finder.
Double-click it. macOS extracts the contents into a folder in the same location automatically.
To create a .zip, select the files, right-click, and choose Compress.

ChromeOS handles archives through the Files app.

Open Files and double-click the .zip. It mounts as a temporary drive in the left sidebar.
Open the mounted archive, select the files, and copy them into a real folder such as Downloads.
When you're done, click the eject icon next to the mounted archive to unmount it.

The native extractors are great for everyday archives, but you might reach for something else when:

You're on a locked-down or public computer where you'd rather not touch the file system more than necessary.
The right-click menu is missing the extract option because of a file-association change.
You just want a quick, no-fuss extract in the browser you already have open.

In those cases you can open your ZIP directly on Zip On Mars — it runs in any browser, lists every file inside so you can grab just the ones you need, and deletes everything shortly after. It's free and needs no account.

Last updated: August 2026