Chrome OS and Chromebooks in general have been around for years. However, there are still a few nuances that can cause some frustration, deterring some from even considering the platform. In the past few years, Google and its hardware partners have been hard at work rectifying some of those frustrations, including providing users the ability to unzip files on Chromebook.
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How to Unzip Files on Chromebook
When Chrome OS was originally introduced, Google didn’t even include the ability for you to unzip files on Chromebook. Instead, you would need to use a different device entirely if you found yourself needing to extract and access different files. Thankfully, those days are long gone, and you can unzip your files with ease:
- Open the Files app on your Chromebook.
- Locate the file that you want to unzip.
- Double-click the file to mount it to the Files app.
- Select the files within the archive that you want to unzip.
- Right-click on the group of files.
- From the drop-down menu, click Copy CTRL + C.
- Navigate to the folder or destination where you want to place these files.
- Right-click on an empty space in the folder.
- From the drop-down menu, click Paste CTRL + V.
- Wait for the files to finish transferring.
Once the files are done transferring to their new location, you will want to un-mount the ZIP folder archive. This can be done by simply clicking the Eject button next to the name of the mounted file. From there, you can delete the previously-mounted file, which we recommend doing in order to save storage space on your Chromebook.
What File Formats Does Chrome OS Support?
Until fairly recently, Chrome OS only supported .zip and .rar files for those who needed to unzip files on Chromebook. However, Google has updated Chrome OS to support even more file formats that you can access and unzip. Here’s the full list:
- .zip
- .rar
- .tar
- .tar.gz (.tgz)
- .tar.bz2 (.tbz2)
In the event that you need to, there are different formats you need to unzip files on Chromebook, there are a few different extensions that you can download. These are specific extensions that work just like they would on any other computer using Chrome. However, they have been better optimized to work with Chromebooks and Chrome OS.
- Archive Extractor – A small and easy online tool that can extract over 70 types of compressed files. Supports password-protected archives. Can unpack multi-pack archives (zip.001, rar.part1, z01, etc.)
- ZIP Extractor – Open ZIP files on your computer and Google Drive. ZIP Extractor allows you to unzip (extract or decompress) files in Google Drive.
Chrome OS Continues To Get Better
As we stated previously, Google is continuing to implement the right kind of changes to improve the overall Chrome OS experience. While the need to unzip files on Chromebook is a rather simple one, it’s still great to see support expanded for more file types. Plus, you can always download an app or extension if you need to unzip and access unsupported files. Let us know if you run into problems, or if there’s a new Chromebook app or extension that we should check out.
