Is there a way to automatically unzip/untar everything I download? Preferably without installing anything (I already have enough programs running all the time) and something that works with all browsers.
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I have never heard of such a requirement. Why extract before you want to look at the files, and waste disk space?– nikAug 27, 2009 at 9:43
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Or maybe he downloads a lot of zip files which he opens right away, and he is tired of unzipping them by hand.– GnoupiAug 27, 2009 at 9:55
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Exactly. I usually download zipped source code, library files, themes, and small utilities. I never keep them lying around as zip files. And since I always extract them anyway, it would be nice to automate it.– drbyAug 27, 2009 at 10:27
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5 Answers
I think this is a horrible idea, it screams "security risk" to me.
Now the disclaimer is out of the way;
Why not just run a scheduled task over your downloads directory? once every 5 minutes run a shell script that essentially:
unzips all the archives (unzip *.zip)
deletes them (rm -f *.zip)
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1. You must trust your unzip binary 1a. "unzip" could add execution routines to all files of a certain MIME type 1b. "unzip" could run with su privileges, allowing extraction to a normally privileged path like /etc/cron.daily 1c. "unzip" could change permissions of extracted files 2. even if unzip is safe, it does remove one level of file obfuscation; e.g. if a friend sent you a file they suspected of being a virus and asked you to look at it, and it auto-unzips from its clear warning zipped filename to an innocent sounding name, you may forget and curiously click -> potential Uh-oh!– adamJan 18, 2013 at 6:55
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On OSX all you have to do is double click the zip and it automatically extracts it for you. 100% of the time when I download a file that is zipped I just want to get the files, I don't care about looking inside the zip and clicking 3 buttons just to get them. Sep 16, 2016 at 2:35
One way to do it is to select "Open with" instead of Download in the dialog box that is shown when you click on a link to zip file.
After the download the zip will be opened in the program you use to handle zip files and you can extract into desired folder.
If you always want to do this and skip the usual Download dialog, you can check the "Do this automatically for files like this from now on" check box.
answered Aug 27, 2009 at 11:32
The only way I can think of doing this would be to put all of the zip files in a particular location and have a program monitor the location and unzip whatever it finds. However personally I don't find unzipping things manually that stressful :-)
I don't see a point to automaticly unzip files after downloading.. Windows xp is treating zips almost just as it does with directories. So there is no need to unzip them.
But if you insist I would try to find an extension for firefox that could do this. I would forget cross-browsing and uninstallable feature.
jDownloader can unzip, unrar and even HJSplit your files. You can use it.
