Solved Is it possible to disable zip folders ?

I use Windows 11 Pro 22H2 ver 22621.3007.

In windows 7 to 11, .zip file is treated as folder in windows explorer.

They appear as folders in the left pane of Explorer as part of the folder structure, which is what I do not want.

For windows 7, it is possible to treat .zip file as just common file, not folder.

By disabling zip folder feature. See :


Similary, in windows 11, is there a way to disable zip folder feature?

A related post is


but, It seems that there is no clear conclusion yet.

Note that I use 7-zip.

I haven't noticed until now, that other compressed file extensions like
.rar and .7z are also treated as folder.

I think my question should be changed to target all compressed file extensions.
(equivalently, just all file extensions.)

@lugran
What's your full objective?
Do you keep lots of zip folders around and can't stand the sight of them, or what?

Yes! I don't want to see zip, rar, 7z files in the left pane of windows explorer.

You can change the default app for handling files with the .ZIP extension so that File Explorer will no longer operate on ZIP files.

Go into Settings > Apps > Default apps

You can also simply turn off the option to show all folders to make the left pane nice and clean.

lugran said:

Yes! I don't want to see zip, rar, 7z files in the left pane of windows explorer.

Click to expand...

Oh..., okay.
Did you try the sevenforums tutorial?

Anyway, now in my PC, only .rar and .7z are treated as folder.
Surprisingly .zip is treated as common file.
I don't know exactly how this situation came to be.

I attach screenshots :

@Edwin, Wow your reply was helpful!

The file Disable_ZIP_Compressed_Folders.reg on sevenforum.com worked on my PC (window 11)!


Due to my mistake, I thought that .reg didn't work. In fact, it worked well window 11, for zip extension.

For other compression extensions like .rar , .7z,... it has not been solved yet.

I found the solution!
Disable_ZIP_Compressed_Folders.reg just remove 2 registry keys.

Disable_ZIP_Compressed_Folders.reg :
-----------------------------------------------------
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CompressedFolder\CLSID]
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\.zip\CLSID]
----------------------------------------------------

So, if you don't want to see .zip and .rar and .7z in the left pane of window explorer, apply
-----------------------------------------------------
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CompressedFolder\CLSID]
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\.zip\CLSID]
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\.rar\CLSID]
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\.7z\CLSID]
----------------------------------------------------

Now it looks good :

It seems perfect if we just know the list of all such extensions that this logic can work with.

@lugran,

Yes! This worked for me...

I'd been banging my head against the proverbial brick-wall, following the instructions on other threads, but none of them worked.

Thanks again,

Mike.

hsehestedt said:

You can also simply turn off the option to show all folders to make the left pane nice and clean.

Click to expand...

I'll AMEN to that. I want my entry into file explorer to be as clean as possible. Why anyone wants all that stuff in the main pane of explorer is beyond me.

hsehestedt said:

You can also simply turn off the option to show all folders to make the left pane nice and clean.

Click to expand...

That's how I have all of my computers set. When it comes to File Explorer I agree with @glasskuter, I want a clean look.

glasskuter said:

I'll AMEN to that. I want my entry into file explorer to be as clean as possible. Why anyone wants all that stuff in the main pane of explorer is beyond me.

Click to expand...

as well as the show frequently used folders you can also uncheck