Open a ZIP, RAR or CSV file

When you need this

Somebody emails a ZIP and your phone will not open it. A lecturer shares course notes as a RAR. A bank sends a CSV of transactions and the phone offers to open it in an app you do not have. The usual answer is to install a file manager that wants permission to read everything on the phone, to show you one document.

How to use it

1. Drop the archive in. ZIP, RAR, 7z and TAR all work.
2. You see what is inside, with the name and size of each file.
3. Save only the parts you actually need.

CSV files

A CSV is a table saved as plain text, which is how banks, mobile money statements and online shops hand over records. Dropped in here it is shown as a readable table rather than a wall of commas, so you can check a figure without a spreadsheet app.

What it does and does not do

• Everything is unpacked on your phone. The archive is never uploaded, which matters because archives tend to hold exactly the documents people would rather not post to a stranger's server.
• Password-protected archives cannot be opened here, and nor can archives split into several parts (.z01, .part1.rar).
• A very large archive will strain an old phone, because it has to be held in memory while it is read.
• Nothing is installed and nothing asks for access to your gallery.

A word about what is inside

Treat a ZIP that arrived unexpectedly the way you would treat any unexpected attachment. Archives are a common way to send things that an email scanner would otherwise notice. If a file inside is called something like invoice.pdf.exe, or you were not expecting it, do not open it on a computer. See spotting fake messages and links.

If something goes wrong

• "Could not be opened." Usually a password, a split archive, or a damaged download. Ask the sender to resend.
• The download stopped halfway. A partly downloaded archive always fails. Download it again on a steady connection.
• You need to make one rather than open one. That is put several files into one ZIP.