Editing ZIP (file format) (section)

{{Short description|Family of archive file formats}}
{{Other uses|Zip (disambiguation)}}
{{redirect|.zip|the internet domain|.zip (top-level domain)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2014}}
{{Infobox file format
| name          = ZIP file format
| _noextcode    = yes
| extension    = {{code|.zip}}   {{code|.zipx}}   {{code|.z01}}   {{code|.zx01}}
| _nomimecode   = yes
| mime          = {{code|application/zip}}<div>{{code|application/x-zip-compressed}}</div><ref name=iana>{{citation |url=https://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/application/zip |title=Registration of a new MIME Content-Type/Subtype - application/zip |publisher=[[Internet Assigned Numbers Authority|IANA]] |date=20 July 1993 |access-date=5 January 2012}}</ref>
| uniform type  = com.pkware.zip-archive
| magic         = {{plainlist|
* ''none''
* {{code|PK\x03\x04}}
* {{code|PK\x05\x06}} (empty)
* {{code|PK\x07\x08}} (spanned)
}}
| developer     = [[PKWARE, Inc.]]
| released      = {{Start date and age|1989|02|14|df=y}}
| latest release version = 6.3.10
| latest release date = {{Start date and age|2022|11|01|df=y}}
| genre         = [[Data compression]]
| extended to   = {{Plainlist|
* [[JAR (file format)|JAR]], [[.ipa]], [[apk (file format)|.apk]] {{small|([[EAR (file format)|EAR]], [[Resource Adapter|RAR (Java)]], [[WAR (Sun file format)|WAR]])}}
* [[Office Open XML]] (Microsoft)
* [[Open Packaging Conventions]]
* [[OpenDocument]] (ODF)
* [[XPI]] (Mozilla extensions)
* [[dotLottie]]
}}
| standard      = [https://pkware.cachefly.net/webdocs/casestudies/APPNOTE.TXT APPNOTE] from PKWARE<br />
[http://www.iso.org/iso/home/store/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=60101 ISO/IEC 21320-1:2015 (a subset of ZIP file format 6.3.3)]
| open          = Yes
}}

'''ZIP''' is an [[archive file format]] that supports [[lossless compression|lossless data compression]]. A ZIP file may contain one or more files or directories that may have been compressed. The ZIP file format permits a number of [[Data compression|compression algorithms]], though [[DEFLATE]] is the most common. This format was originally created in 1989 and was first implemented in [[PKWARE, Inc.]]'s [[PKZIP]] utility,<ref>{{cite news | title = Phillip Katz, Computer Software Pioneer, 37 | work= The New York Times' | date = 1 May 2000 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/01/us/phillip-katz-computer-software-pioneer-37.html | access-date = 14 June 2009}}</ref> as a replacement for the previous [[ARC (file format)|ARC]] compression format by Thom Henderson. The ZIP format was then quickly supported by many software utilities other than PKZIP. Microsoft has included built-in ZIP support (under the name "compressed folders") in versions of [[Microsoft Windows]] since 1998 via the "Plus! 98" addon for Windows 98. Native support was added as of the year 2000 in Windows ME. {{Citation needed|date=October 2023}} Apple has included built-in ZIP support in [[macOS|Mac&nbsp;OS&nbsp;X]] 10.3 (via BOMArchiveHelper, now [[Archive Utility]]) and later. Most [[:Category:Free software operating systems|free operating systems]] have built in support for ZIP in similar manners to Windows and macOS.

ZIP files generally use the [[file extension]]s {{mono|.zip}} or {{mono|.ZIP}} and the [[MIME]] media type {{code|application/zip}}.<ref name=iana/> ZIP is used as a base file format by many programs, usually under a different name. When navigating a file system via a user interface, graphical [[icon (computing)|icons]] representing ZIP files often appear as a document or other object prominently featuring a [[zipper]].