In this article, you will find how to ZIP Files and Photos and Open Zip files on your iPhone running iOS 13 and iOS12.
How to Open a Zip or RAR File on iPhone.
Until Apple announced the Files app for iOS devices, the file handling sector was one of the most difficult parts for iPhone users. It is now possible to open and extract Zip files on iPhone, that runs iOS 13 or later. This does not require any third-party apps, but the inbuilt Files app on iPhones. Follow the below steps to open a Zip or RAR file on iPhone.
You can then scroll and find the extracted files from the same folder. As of now, there is no prompt asking for the extraction target destination. With each further update, Apple added more features and file handling techniques for iPhones and now the compressed file support is here. Previously with iOS 12, you could only open standard text files, supported documents, images, and videos on an iPhone. Though, they have now added direct support for the most popular compressed file-formats – Zip and Rar.
How to Preview a Zip or RAR File on iPhone
In the meantime, if you want to preview the zip file content before extracting it on to the folder, follow these steps.
The Quick Look feature for the compressed file in iOS 13 works similar to that of the Quick Look on macOS, and you can see all the file contents without even extracting them on to a file folder.
How to Create Zip Files on iPhone
With iOS 13, you can now create a zip file by compressing multiple files into one zip or RAR file. Even though the previous version of iOS lacked the zip file handling feature, the newer addition makes it much easier than ever on a smartphone. Here is how you can create zip files on iPhone by choosing multiple files.
Tapping the same zip file will extract all the files from the archive. There is not any need of installing third-party apps to create zip files on the iPhone, with iOS 13.
How to Zip Photos and Camera Role Files on iPhone
Although, you cannot create an archive by compressing images directly from the Photo Albums or Camera Roll. Zipping the photos on iPhone is a bit different than regular files. Here is how you can zip images from the Photos app and save it using the Files app.
Your folder containing selected images from the Photo Album is now in compressed format on your iPhone now. Besides, you can share it with people over WhatsApp and other media as a single zip file of these photos. You can also zip other media files on iPhone by moving them into individual files.
How to Extract Zip Files on iOS 12
Since Apple has stopped software update for iPhone 6 and older models, many users are still on iOS 12. The above tutorial is based on iOS 13, and if you are on an older version, you do not have direct support for zip file formats. However, there are certain iOS Shortcuts you can make use of, in order to open and extract zip files on the iPhone. For that, you must have an iPhone running at least iOS 12, and this is not for the older generations. Here is how to create an iOS Shortcut to unzip a file on the iPhone.
After creating the shortcut, you can easily unzip a compressed file from the Files app, and here is how.
How to Create Zip Files on iOS 12
Similar to lack of native support for archive files, on iOS 12, you do not get an option to choose multiple files and make them into an archive zip file. Therefore, in case you want to create zip files on iOS 12 on the go, iOS Shortcut is the best way. Follow the below steps to find how to create an iOS Shortcut to create a Zip file.
If you just created a shortcut to create a zip file from multiple file inputs, here is how you can run it and create a zip file instantly from your iPhone.
The newly created zip file will be saved in the Files app, you can share across various apps. However, if you need to unzip the same zip or RAR file, you need to make use of the iOS Shortcut as mentioned above.
Unzip Compressed Files with Third-Party Apps
Are you on an iPhone running older versions of iOS, which neither does have the Shortcuts app, nor the zip file support? There are certain Apps available on App Store for iPhones running iOS 11, particularly. In this case, you can make use of them to unzip an archive file on the iPhone. For instance, we are using iZip, a popular tool available for iPhone users, which helps you unarchive the zip and RAR files. Follow the method to know how to unzip zip files on iPhone with iOS 11 using iZip app.
Zip Files with Third-Party Apps on iPhone
Using the iZip, you can even create archives by picking up your photos and compressing them on to a zip file. Here is how.
File handling and zipping or unzipping archives are no more a hassle on iOS devices and hope all the above-mentioned methods help you with understanding more. Finally, if you have more other possible ways to manage zip files on iPhone, feel free to share through the comment box.
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