Working with Windows

You can initiate most common operations on Zip files without explicitly starting WinZip®; in many cases, you won't even need to display or use the WinZip Wizard. Here are some quick examples of WinZip's smooth integration into Windows:

Unzipping files from My Computer or Windows Explorer

Right click a Zip file in an Explorer window, then choose WinZip from the context menu and pick the appropriate Extract choice from the WinZip submenu. You can extract to the current folder ("here"), a recently used folder, a new subfolder created by WinZip, or any folder of your choice.
Or, use the right mouse button to drag and drop a Zip file from an Explorer window to any folder, then choose Extract to from the context menu. Be sure to use the right mouse button while dragging.
You can extract from multiple Zip files in one operation, too: just select the Zip files in Explorer, right click any of the selected files, choose WinZip from the context menu, and pick the appropriate Extract choice from the WinZip submenu.

Zipping files from My Computer or Windows Explorer

Select one or more files in an Explorer window, then right click any of the selected files, choose WinZip from the context menu, and pick the appropriate Add choice from the WinZip submenu. You can create a new Zip file or you can add the files to any existing Zip file.
Alternatively, select one or more files, then drag and drop them on an existing Zip file in the same Explorer window, in another Explorer window, or on the desktop. Note that you can create a new, empty Zip file in Explorer by right clicking and then choosing WinZip File from the New submenu.

Compressing and e-mailing files and folders from My Computer or Windows Explorer

Select one or more files or folders in an Explorer window, then right click any of the selected items, click WinZip from the context menu, and choose one of the Zip and E-Mail entries from the WinZip submenu. Zip and E-Mail filename.zip quickly compresses the selected items, creates a temporary Zip file with the specified name, and attaches it to a new e-mail message. Zip and E-Mail Plus performs the same basic operation but allows you to apply encryption and to specify the name of the temporary Zip file to be created.

Using the Desktop:

You can drag files from an Explorer window to the WinZip icon on the desktop to add the files to an archive of your choice.
To create a new, empty Zip file on the desktop, right click anywhere on the desktop and select WinZip File from the New submenu.

Using drag and drop from the main WinZip window:

To extract a file, drag it to a folder displayed in an Explorer window. You can also extract to the desktop by simply dragging the file to the desktop.
To view a file, drag it to the appropriate application window or to a shortcut to the application.
To print a file, drag it to a printer or a printer shortcut.

Using the Start menu:

You can start WinZip directly from the system Start menu.
You can open recently used archives from the Documents submenu in the Start menu.
Note: Windows XP does not display Zip files in the Documents submenu. You can use the WinZip Quick Pick taskbar tray feature to open recently used Zip files.