How to Zip and Unzip Files in Linux

zip and unzip are popular command-line utilities for compressing and extracting files and directories on Linux systems. zip combines multiple files and directories into a single compressed archive, saving storage space and simplifying file management. unzip extracts the archived contents when needed.

This article explains how to install Linux's zip and unzip utilities to compress files, archive directories, and extract the archived contents.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, you need to:

Have access to a Linux instance as a non-root sudo user.

Install Zip and Unzip in Linux

The zip and unzip utilities are available through the default package managers on most Linux distributions. Follow the steps below to install both tools using the package manager that matches your distribution.

Ubuntu & Debian

Follow the steps below to install zip and unzip on Debian-based distributions.

Update the apt package index.
console
```
$ sudo apt update
```
Install zip and unzip.
console
```
$ sudo apt install -y zip unzip
```

CentOS/AlmaLinux/Rocky Linux/Fedora

Run the following command to install zip and unzip on RHEL-based distributions.
console
```
$ sudo dnf install -y zip unzip
```

Note

If you're using an older version of Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux, or CentOS that doesn't support dnf, replace dnf with yum in the installation command.

Arch Linux

Run the following command to install zip and unzip on Arch Linux.
console
```
$ sudo pacman -S zip unzip
```

openSUSE

Run the following command to install zip and unzip on openSUSE.
console
```
$ sudo zypper install -y zip unzip
```

Alpine Linux

Follow the steps below to install zip and unzip on Alpine Linux.

Update the apk package index.
console
```
$ sudo apk update
```
Install zip and unzip.
console
```
$ sudo apk add zip unzip
```

Zip Files in Linux

The zip command to create a .zip archive file that reduces file size and simplifies storage or file sharing.

`zip` Command Syntax

The zip command uses the following syntax.

zip [OPTIONS]... [COMPRESSED_FILENAME] [FILES/DIRS TO COMPRESS]...

Where,

[OPTIONS] modify the command behavior. These are optional. The next section discusses and demonstrates some important options.
[COMPRESSED_FILENAME] is the name of the file that the command should create after archiving the files.
[FILES/DIRS TO COMPRESS] is the list of files or directories you want to archive.

`zip` Command Usage

Compress a single file into a .zip archive.
console
```
$ zip archive-name.zip file1.txt
```
The above command creates an archive named archive-name.zip that contains file1.txt.
Add multiple files to a new or existing archive.
console
```
$ zip archive-name.zip file1.txt file2.txt file3.txt
```
The above command adds the listed files to archive-name.zip. If the archive doesn’t exist, it creates a new one. If it exists, it updates the archive with the specified files.
Set the compression level. Use -0 to speed up the zip process without compression. Use -9 to compress the file as much as possible.
console
```
$ zip -9 archive-name.zip file.txt
```
Use the -P option to set a password on a zip archive. Password-protecting archives can help secure sensitive files during storage or transfer.
console
```
$ zip -P your_password archive-name.zip file4.txt
```
The above command creates an archive-name.zip file containing file4.txt, protected by the password your_password.
Use the -x flag to exclude specific files from the archive. This is useful when compressing multiple files using a wildcard pattern and you want to skip specific files.
console
```
$ zip archive-name.zip *.txt -x secret.txt
```
The above command adds all .txt files in the directory to the archive except secret.txt.
Use the -u flag to update files in the archive only if the source file is newer.
console
```
$ zip -u archive-name.zip updatedfile.txt
```
The above command updates updatedfile.txt in the archive if the local version has changed since the last zip.
Use the -v flag to view detailed output while compressing files. The verbose output shows the filename, compression method, and size for each file added to the archive.
console
```
$ zip -v archive-name.zip file1.txt
```

Unzip Files in Linux

Use the unzip command to extract files from a .zip archive. You can extract all files, target specific files, or list the zipped files.

`unzip` Command Syntax

The unzip command uses the following syntax.

unzip [OPTIONS]... [ZIP_FILENAME] [MEMBER FILES/DIRS]...

Where,

[OPTIONS] modify how the contents are extracted. This is optional. The most important options are covered in the next section.
[ZIP_FILENAME] is the .zip file you want to extract entirely or some of its files.
[MEMBER FILES/DIRS] are files or directories within the archive to extract. If omitted, the command extracts all files.

`unzip` Command Usage

Run the unzip command followed by the archive name to extract all files into the working directory.
console
```
$ unzip archive-name.zip
```
Specify the filename after the archive name to extract only that file instead of the full archive.
console
```
$ unzip archive-name.zip file1.txt
```
The above command extracts only file1.txt from the archive and puts it into the working directory.
Use the -d flag to define the destination path where you want the files to be extracted. This is helpful when you want to keep extracted files organized.
console
```
$ unzip archive-name.zip -d /path/to/destination
```
The above command extracts all files from the archive into the /path/to/destination directory.
Use the -l flag to preview all files inside the archive. This option lets you inspect the archive contents before extracting.
console
```
$ unzip -l archive-name.zip
```
List multiple filenames after the archive name to extract only those files from the archive.
console
```
$ unzip archive-name.zip file1.txt updatedfile.txt
```
The above command extracts file1.txt and updatedfile.txt from the archive and puts them into the working directory.
Use the -o flag to overwrite files that already exist in the destination without prompting. Overwriting files automatically is useful when scripting or automating the extraction process.
console
```
$ unzip -o archive-name.zip
```
The above command extracts all files from archive-name.zip and replaces any existing files with the same names without asking for confirmation.
Use the -n flag to skip files already present in the destination. Skipping existing files prevents overwriting.
console
```
$ unzip -n archive-name.zip
```
The above command extracts files from archive-name.zip but skips any files that already exist in the destination directory.
Use the -v flag to view detailed output during extraction. This includes file names, sizes, and timestamps for each extracted file.
console
```
$ unzip -v archive-name.zip
```

Zip a Directory

You can archive entire directories into a single .zip file to simplify backups, organize project files, or reduce storage usage.

Use the zip command with the -r flag to compress a directory and include all its files and subdirectories.
console
```
$ zip -r archive-name.zip directory-name
```
The above command creates an archive named archive-name.zip containing everything inside directory-name, including nested folders.
Use the -x flag to exclude specific files, file types, or folders during compression. This helps reduce archive size and avoids including unnecessary files.
console
```
$ zip -r archive-name.zip directory-name -x "*.log" "*.tmp" "cache/*"
```
The above command compresses the directory-name but skips all .log and .tmp files and the entire cache folder..
List multiple directories after the archive name to combine them into a single zip file.
console
```
$ zip -r archive-name.zip dir1 dir2 dir3
```
Use a single dot . to reference the working directory and compress all its contents.
console
```
$ zip -r archive-name.zip .
```

Unzip a Directory

You can extract a .zip archive that contains an entire folder hierarchy, including subdirectories and nested files. Extracting complete folder structures is helpful when restoring backups, deploying packaged projects, or accessing compressed folders shared between systems.

Use the unzip command followed by the archive name to extract the full directory structure into your working directory.
console
```
$ unzip archive-name.zip
```
Use the -d flag to extract the archive into a specific location. This helps keep extracted files organized when working with multiple archives.
console
```
$ unzip archive-name.zip -d /path/to/destination
```
The above command extracts the entire directory structure into /path/to/destination.
Use the -o flag to automatically overwrite the existing files and directories in the target location.
console
```
$ unzip -o archive-name.zip -d /path/to/destination
```
Use the -n flag to skip overwriting existing files or directories.
console
```
$ unzip -n archive-name.zip -d /path/to/destination
```
The above command extracts everything from archive-name.zip but leaves existing files and folders untouched in the destination directory.

Conclusion

You have installed the zip and unzip utilities on your Linux system. These utilities allow you to compress individual files, archive entire directories, and extract files or full folder structures from .zip archives. For additional options and advanced usage details, refer to the Info-ZIP documentation.

Tags:

Linux Commands

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How to Zip and Unzip Files in Linux

Prerequisites

Install Zip and Unzip in Linux