


We’re using the RISC OS image from here as a test. It may take a while to scan the file, depending on its size. Choose a compressed file (typically it’ll be saved in your Downloads folder) and click Open. Open it using Menu > Accessories > Archiver.Ĭhoose Archiver > Open or click on the ‘Open an Archive’ icon. This lightweight desktop app, also known as Xarchiver, is included with Raspbian and can handle 7-zip, arj, bzip2, gzip, rar, lha, lzma, lzop, deb, rpm, tar, and zip archives. Your first stop for uncompressing any file on your Raspberry Pi should be to use Archiver. Lets look at the different compressed file types you’ll come across when using a Raspberry Pi, and how to go about unzipping them. Uncompressing, or ‘unzipping’ a compressed file isn’t a complicated task, but there is a baffling array of different compression techniques and files, each requiring its own tool and technique for restoring the file to its former glory. Pretty much everybody is familiar with the concept of a compressed file, often called a ‘zipped’ file thanks to the early, and still popular, zip format. The reduced file sizes are quicker to download, smaller to host, and save money on bandwidth.

In this feature we're going to look at how to unzip (or uncompress) files on a Raspberry Pi.įiles are often compressed before being made available for transfer. Files downloaded from the internet almost always arrive on your computer as compressed files.
