"Compress to Zip file" no longer working. How do I fix it?

dbookbinder · Apr 30, 2024

When I select some files, right-click, and select "Compress to Zip file," instead of getting a ZIP file, I'm prompted for a program to open the files. File Explorer is still the default for the .zip extension, and I've run DISM and SFC commands and they've found no errors.

How can I restore this function? I have, and use, 7-Zip, which works, as does "Send to" compressed folder and opening and extracting from ZIP files. But so far, neither AI nor Google have been much help getting "Compress to Zip file" to work, and the solutions suggested on two pages on this site have also not worked.

Thanks!

Ghot · Apr 30, 2024

@dbookbinder

I also use 7zip and don't have a Compress to zip on my right click menus.
I wonder if 7zip took control.

You can use this...

antspants · Apr 30, 2024

dbookbinder said:
and the solutions suggested on two pages on this site have also not worked

We have zero way of knowing what these two pages contain or what you have tried. Perhaps you could list what you have tried. Otherwise, members are just wasting their time suggesting the same things.

antspants · Apr 30, 2024

The first thing I would do (as I have zero idea of what you have tried) is check in 7-zip that zip files aren’t associated with 7-zip.

Open the 7-Zip File Manager with Administrator Rights from your start menu.
Go to the tools menu and select options.
If zip files is selected, deselect the zip extensions.
Press OK to save your changes.

The 2nd thing I would try is scroll down the page and go to the end of the table contained in this tutorial and download and run the default Zip restore reg file.

Reset and Restore Default Apps for File Types in Windows 11 Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to reset and restore the default app association of a file type for your account in Windows 11. A default app is the program that Windows has assigned to open a file or link type with by default when you open it. Default apps you choose will only apply to your...

www.elevenforum.com

dbookbinder · Apr 30, 2024

antspants said:
We have zero way of knowing what these two pages contain or what you have tried. Perhaps you could list what you have tried. Otherwise, members are just wasting their time suggesting the same things.

Sorry. I didn't have the links, but here's one: "Compress to ZIP File" does not work

The pages I mentioned suggested resetting the default for .zip files either using the .zip REG file in Shawn's list or a more exhaustive .reg file that (if I recall correctly) rewrites the registry entry for the Zip CLSID.

dbookbinder · Apr 30, 2024

antspants said:
The first thing I would do (as I have zero idea of what you have tried) is check in 7-zip that zip files aren’t associated with 7-zip

The 2nd thing I would try is scroll down the page and go to the end of the table contained in this tutorial and download and run the default Zip restore reg file.

Reset and Restore Default Apps for File Types in Windows 11 Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to reset and restore the default app association of a file type for your account in Windows 11. A default app is the program that Windows has assigned to open a file or link type with by default when you open it. Default apps you choose will only apply to your...

www.elevenforum.com

Mea culpa. I didn't have the links handy and have found one, see below.

I did try resetting the .ZIP association with the ZIP restore reg file, and the ZIP files are not associated with 7-Zip.

antspants · Apr 30, 2024

dbookbinder said:
Sorry. I didn't have the links, but here's one: "Compress to ZIP File" does not work

The pages I mentioned suggested resetting the default for .zip files either using the .zip REG file in Shawn's list or a more exhaustive .reg file that (if I recall correctly) rewrites the registry entry for the Zip CLSID.

OK well I read that link and it seems, once again, it is random between computers.

Normally at this point of my personal suggestions I would recommend an in-place upgrade. But reading that thread, I see that it has even happened on a fresh install of Windows.

I suppose the question is, with this current install of Windows Eleven, did “Compress To Zip” ever work in Windows File Explorer?
If yes, I’d say try the repair install.

If you decide to proceed (it’s a pretty painless operation) note that Option Two is the only option, Option One is for Insiders only

Repair Install Windows 11 with an In-place Upgrade Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to do a repair install of Windows 11 by performing an in-place upgrade without losing anything. If you need to repair or create a new recovery partition or having problems with the Windows 11 operating system on your PC, and the usual solutions will not fix it...

www.elevenforum.com

antspants · Apr 30, 2024

Also, dbookbinder, for future reference:

Please type Winver into search on your PC and open it. Please type the version and build that it reports (you can copy/paste), into your “System Specs / OS” section (first on the list where you have placed “Windows 11”)

Like this for example: Windows 11 Pro 23H2 Build 22631.3374

This link will open your System Specs.
https://www.elevenforum.com/account/system-specs

Thank you

dbookbinder · Apr 30, 2024

antspants said:
OK well I read that link and it seems, once again, it is random between computers.

Normally at this point of my personal suggestions I would recommend an in-place upgrade. But reading that thread, I see that it has even happened on a fresh install of Windows.

I suppose the question is, with this current install of Windows Eleven, did “Compress To Zip” ever work in Windows File Explorer?
If yes, I’d say try the repair install.

If you decide to proceed (it’s a pretty painless operation) note that Option Two is the only option, Option One is for Insiders only

Repair Install Windows 11 with an In-place Upgrade Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to do a repair install of Windows 11 by performing an in-place upgrade without losing anything. If you need to repair or create a new recovery partition or having problems with the Windows 11 operating system on your PC, and the usual solutions will not fix it...

www.elevenforum.com

I don't recall whether it worked or not, because mostly I've used 7-Zip, as I've previously needed to add a password. I no longer need to do that, so that's why I tried the "Compress to Zip" menu item.

Okay, I'll include the build next time. Just got lazy, as Winver doesn't allow you to select it and based on my previous searches, it seemed as if this problem happens across multiple builds.

I've done repair installs several times over the years, and it's fairly painless. If I can't find a simpler solution, I'll give it a try, but this seems like something a targeted solution should repair (and a repair install may not, given, as you point out, that it shows up on clean installs). If I find a solution, I'll post it here.

antspants · Apr 30, 2024

dbookbinder said:
but this seems like something a targeted solution should repair

This is very often not the case. You said:

dbookbinder said:
neither AI nor Google have been much help getting "Compress to Zip file" to work, and the solutions suggested on two pages on this site have also not worked

But you never know.

antspants · Apr 30, 2024

I do have one last suggestion if you haven’t tried it already;

- Uninstall 7-zip:

Use Revo uninstaller Free so you can remove all traces of 7-zip in the registry and File Explorer, tell it to "scan for leftovers"

- Run the default reg file in brinks tutorial, reboot and check again.

Revo Uninstaller Free

Download Revo Uninstaller Free helps you to uninstall software and remove unwanted programs easily. Remove all uninstall leftovers and traces

www.revouninstaller.com

dbookbinder · Apr 30, 2024

antspants said:
I do have one last suggestion if you haven’t tried it already;

- Uninstall 7-zip:

Use Revo uninstaller Free so you can remove all traces of 7-zip in the registry and File Explorer, tell it to "scan for leftovers"
- Run the default reg file in brinks tutorial, reboot and check again.

Revo Uninstaller Free

Download Revo Uninstaller Free helps you to uninstall software and remove unwanted programs easily. Remove all uninstall leftovers and traces

www.revouninstaller.com

Okay, thanks. I'll give that a shot. If it works, then the issue is 7-zip, even though it's not associated with the .Zip extension (or any other extension). Of course, I'll just reinstall 7-zip again, because it's useful, but at least I'll know what the issue is.

antspants · Apr 30, 2024

dbookbinder said:
Okay, thanks. I'll give that a shot. If it works, then the issue is 7-zip, even though it's not associated with the .Zip extension (or any other extension). Of course, I'll just reinstall 7-zip again, because it's useful, but at least I'll know what the issue is.

If it works

and you originally “completely” removed any trace of 7-zip before re-associating zip with explorer via the reg file, I don’t see why you wouldn’t just be able to reinstall 7-zip because from memory, by default, I don’t think 7-zip is assocted with .zip files. I believe you need to manually make the association in 7-zip?

dbookbinder · Apr 30, 2024

antspants said:
If it works and you originally “completely” removed any trace of 7-zip before re-associating zip with explorer via the reg file, I don’t see why you wouldn’t just be able to reinstall 7-zip because from memory, by default, I don’t think 7-zip is assocted with .zip files. I believe you need to manually make the association in 7-zip?

If it works, it seems likely that 7-Zip is the problem, since removing it (theoretically) solved the problem. But, time and testing will tell. And yes, you do have to manually associate it with ZIP files, which I haven't done.

Incidentally, I've been using personal computers since CP/M days (and VAX/VMS before that), and Windows since Win286/386, so I'm pretty familiar with them.

antspants · Apr 30, 2024

dbookbinder said:
it seems likely that 7-Zip is the problem

Associating zip with 7-zip could of broken something, hence my suggestion that it may be worth trying to reinstall it after all is done, if all is corrected, and not associate zip with 7-zip, obviously. It’s trial and error I suppose?

dbookbinder said:
Incidentally, I've been using personal computers since CP/M days (and VAX/VMS before that), and Windows since Win286/386, so I'm pretty familiar with them.

Yet here we are.
Microsoft is the devils advocate on may occasions.

jimbo45 · Apr 30, 2024

7-zip on my systems seems to work OK -- but I thnk for a basic zip file doesn't Windows have a built in command in file explorer --certainly it can uncompress (extract) stuff from zip files.

cheers
jimbo

antspants · Apr 30, 2024

jimbo45 said:
7-zip on my systems seems to work OK -- but I thnk for a basic zip file doesn't Windows have a built in command in file explorer --certainly it can uncompress (extract) stuff from zip files.

cheers
jimbo

This is the issue, Jimbo. The OP wants to be able to use File Explorers ”Compress To Zip File” but it isn’t working.
So File Explorer for zip and 7-zip for everything else.

jimbo45 · Apr 30, 2024

antspants said:
This is the issue, Jimbo. The OP wants to be able to use File Explorers ”Compress To Zip File” but it isn’t working.
So File Explorer for zip and 7-zip for everything else.

OK wasn't clear -- I just thought the OP wanted to compress to a zip file. Didn't seem to say that he wanted to use file explorer.

Cheers
jimbo

dbookbinder · Apr 30, 2024

antspants said:
Associating zip with 7-zip could of broken something, hence my suggestion that it may be worth trying to reinstall it after all is done, if all is corrected, and not associate zip with 7-zip, obviously. It’s trial and error I suppose?

Yet here we are.
Microsoft is the devils advocate on may occasions.

Like I said, I didn't associate 7-zip with .zip, so uninstalling 7-zip and resetting the association may not solve the problem. But I'll try it when I'm at that computer and let you know. The problem with an open system, when compared, say, to IOS, is that it leaves open the possibility of interactions among multiple programs that then break other programs or part of the OS. The other day I tried 0patch and it broke PowerShell, but only after Avast! antivirus updated its rootkit component. When I uninstalled one or the other, PowerShell worked fine. (They're both gone, now.)

dbookbinder · Apr 30, 2024

jimbo45 said:
OK wasn't clear -- I just thought the OP wanted to compress to a zip file. Didn't seem to say that he wanted to use file explorer.

Cheers
jimbo

What I said was, "When I select some files, right-click, and select "Compress to Zip file," instead of getting a ZIP file, I'm prompted for a program to open the files. ... How can I restore this function?"

Sorry if that wasn't clear.