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Using Windows Shell Integration

PicoZip is tightly integrated to Windows Explorer to give you quick access to most PicoZip features. Most of the time, you can perform most archiving tasks directly in Windows Explorer without starting PicoZip. Please note that PicoZip shell extensions and file associations must be enabled for this to work (enabled is the default setting when you first install PicoZip).

Please start Windows Explorer before proceeding with any of the following tasks. Note: You do not need to run PicoZip before performing any of the following steps.

Opening An Archive

In Windows Explorer, just double click an archive file to open it in PicoZip. Note that PicoZip must be associated to archive files for this to work. Click here to learn more.

Viewing Archive Information

In Windows Explorer, you can view information about an archive by simply positioning you mouse cursor over the archive file for about one second. A small tooltip window will popup to show you information such as: number of files in archive, unpacked size, compression ratio and file names of the files in the archive. This allows you to quickly get an idea of what the archive contains without having to actually open it using PicoZip.

You can also configure what type of information about an archive to show in the tooltip. Click here to learn more.

Explorer Context Menus

Archive Files:

When you right-click an archive file, you will see the following PicoZip commands in the popup context menu. Note that not all commands may be shown at any one time as some are available only for certain archive formats :

· Extract To ... : Extract files in the selected archive to a folder of your choice.

· Extract Here : Extract files in the selected archive to the same folder as the archive file.

· Extract to <Folder> : Extract files in the selected archive to a subfolder within the current folder where the archive file is located.

· Scan Archive for Virus : Scan the selected archive file for virus.

· Convert Archive Format : Convert the selected archive file to a different archive format.

· Test Archive : Test the integrity of the selected archive file.

· Make .EXE File : Convert the selected archive file into a self extracting executable.

· Repair Zip Archive : Repair the currently selected Zip file.

If you select more than one archive file, you will see the following PicoZip commands:

· Extract Archives Here : Extract the contents of the selected archive files to the current folder.

· Extract Archives To ... : Extract the contents of the selected archive files to a folder of your choice.

· Extract Each Archive to Separate Folders Here : Extract the contents of each archive to a separate subfolder in the current folder.

· Extract Each Archive to Separate Folders To ... : Extract the contents of each archive to a separate subfolder in a destination folder of your choice.

If you use your right mouse button to drag and drop one archive file, you will see the following PicoZip commands:

· Extract To ... : Extract the contents of the selected archive to a folder of your choice.

· Extract Here : Extract the contents of the selected archive to the folder where it was dropped.

· Extract To <Folder>\<Filename>\ : Extract the contents of the selected archive to a subfolder in the folder where it was dropped.

If you use your right mouse button to drag and drop more than one archive file, you will see the following PicoZip commands:

· Extract Archives To ... : Extract the contents of the selected archive files to a folder of your choice.

· Extract Archives Here : Extract the contents of the selected archive files to the folder where it was dropped.

· Extract Each Archive To Separate Folders Under <Folder>\ : Extract the contents of each archive to a separate subfolder in the folder where it was dropped.

Non-archive Files:

When you select one or more non-archive files, you will see the following PicoZip commands in the popup context menu:

· Add to Archive : Add the selected files to a new or existing archive file you specify. You can also configure various archive settings.

· Add to <Filename> : Add the selected files to an archive file named <Filename> in the current folder.

· Add to <Filename>.EXE : Add the selected files to a self-extracting executable file named <Filename>.EXE in the current folder.

· Compress and Email ... : Ask you how you want the archive to be created, then compress the selected files and attach it to a new email message. You can then fill in the recipient's details and send it.

· Compress and Email <Filename> : Compress the selected files to an archive file named <Filename> and attach it to a new email message. You can then fill in the recipient's details and send it.

You can configure which commands are shown in the context menu to turn off seldom used commands to reduce clutter. Click here for more information.

Drag-and-Drop

To add files to an archive while in Windows Explorer, just drag one or more files and drop it on an archive file to add them to the archive.

Related topics:

Configuring Shell Extensions

Configuring File Associations

Quick Start for Windows Explorer Integration