Program that extract only new or modified files from archive

vsub · Aug 24, 2025

Is such a program exist
Lets say I have a folder with 1k files and download an archive that contains those 1k files and maybe 20 new and 50 modified files
Is there is any software that can extract only the new and modified files
Extracting all to the temporary folder and then move all new and modified files is not a solution

glasskuter · Aug 24, 2025

None exactly like you describe that I am aware of. You can however download an archive, unzip it, then use an app like synctoy or freefilesync to sync the original folder to the unzipped folder. New and changed files will sync from the folder you choose as the left folder to the folder you choose as the right folder in either one of those apps. (In other words you choose the unzipped folder as the left folder and your current folder as the right folder) Only new and changed files will copy.

You can also do it manually. Unzip the folder. Open the unzipped folder in one instance of file explorer, then open the original folder in another instance of file explorer, view each folder by date modified.. Snap the 2 instances of file explorer side by side and easily copy files from one folder to the other.

abactuon · Aug 24, 2025

Of course the %Temp% folder will be used.

vsub · Aug 24, 2025

I can easily do it in many ways if I extract all of the files first but the point was to not extract the files that are the same

I found this(I don't know if it works)but there is no release version and I cannot compile it

GitHub - jitbit/unzipnew: unzip only newer/updated files (by checking their hash) for Windows

unzip only newer/updated files (by checking their hash) for Windows - jitbit/unzipnew

github.com

giftwrapped · Aug 26, 2025

Since I could not find any command line `unzip.exe` on my computer, I downloaded this:

Pazera Software is under construction

Audio & video converters, system utilities and other free software

www.pazera-software.com

filename: `info-zip-3.0__unzip-6.0__win64.zip`
size: 853 KB (873 574 bytes))

My test case:

Original files in folder `C:\temp-original>`
01.txt : "01"
02.txt : "02"
03.txt : "03"
04.txt : "04"

Content of the zip file `original-new-modified.zip` and also the final outcome of the folder containing the original files.
01.txt : "01"
02.txt : "02"
03.txt : "03 modified"
04.txt : "04 modified"
05.txt : "05 new"
06.txt : "06 new"

I ran this command in CMD.exe:

Code:

C:\temp-original>unzip -u original-new-modified.zip

Archive:  original-new-modified.zip

  inflating: 06.txt

replace 03.txt? [y]es, [n]o, [A]ll, [N]one, [r]ename: A

  inflating: 03.txt

  inflating: 04.txt

  inflating: 05.txt


C:\temp-original>

From the result you can see that the files `01.txt` and `02.txt` were left untouched, no overwriting.

Code:

-f
freshen existing files, i.e.,  extract  only  those  files  that
already  exist  on disk and that are newer than the disk copies.
By default unzip queries before overwriting, but the  -o  option
may be used to suppress the queries.  Note that under many oper-
ating systems, the TZ (timezone) environment  variable  must  be
set  correctly  in  order  for -f and -u to work properly (under
Unix the variable is usually set  automatically).   The  reasons
for this are somewhat subtle but have to do with the differences
between DOS-format file times (always local time) and  Unix-for-
mat  times  (always in GMT/UTC) and the necessity to compare the
two.  A typical TZ value is ``PST8PDT'' (US  Pacific  time  with
automatic  adjustment  for  Daylight  Savings  Time  or ``summer
time'').

-u
update existing files and  create  new  ones  if  needed.   This
option  performs  the same function as the -f option, extracting
(with query) files that are newer than those with the same  name
on  disk,  and  in  addition it extracts those files that do not
already exist on disk.  See -f above for information on  setting
the timezone properly.

pewa · Sep 21, 2025

Yes, a synchronizer should do the trick.

jimbo45 · Sep 21, 2025

vsub said:
Is such a program exist
Lets say I have a folder with 1k files and download an archive that contains those 1k files and maybe 20 new and 50 modified files
Is there is any software that can extract only the new and modified files
Extracting all to the temporary folder and then move all new and modified files is not a solution

If you don't mind using Linux (it can read / write NTFS stuff too) - boot up any decent live distro (doesn't touch your Windows main disk(s) and then run grsync (a GUI front end to rsync) with zillions of options - including skip older files etc etc --quite a lot of options but in there there are loads of available options. For Windows does Robocopy or Xcopy have some features that could do what you want.

Grsync : (many more options in advanced and extra -- well worth learning). - Nothing wrong on using a different OS or tools to fix problems --I've used Windows to get eseoteric hardware details for Linux issues but find 99.999% of the time Linux is far better for any data or disk issues (correcting / recovering / backing up / restoring / sharing/networking etc.).

Grsync also runs in "test / simulate" mode so you can test out various options etc before any changes are actually done !!.

A useful tool is the stand alone bootable version of Gparted -- it's an underlying Debian system but opens in a GUI. If you create a "persistent version" you can add grsync which makes it a really useful tool - bootable on a small usb stick too.

Cheers
jimbo

Cheers
jimbo

pewa · Sep 21, 2025

I presume the 20 new and 50 modified files are not large.

First, go to the folder where you keep the original files. Rename those files (F2 key) that you want modified by adding the letter ‘d’ at the end of their names.(d stands for to be deleted).

Next go to the folder containing 1k files including those new and modified ones. Look for an empty spot in the folder and click the Ctrl key+A (Select all) on the keyboard. Right-click and click ‘Copy’ on the drop down menu.

Now go the folder where you keep your original files. I take it you wish to paste the new and modified files in this folder. Look for an empty spot in the folder, right-click and then click ‘Paste’ on the drop down list.

A pop up window will appear asking if you wish to replace all the original files with the new ones. Click ‘Skip’. Your computer will now proceed to paste only the new and modified files to this folder.

Finally, you can easily look for the original files that have not yet been modified to delete. They have the letter ‘d’ at the end of their names.

I think this is what glasskuter has suggested.

On the other hand, if those new and modified files are very large in size (say 1GB+ each), using a synchronizer is the way to go.

If it were me, that’s how I would do it.

If this is not what you meant, then I am sorry!

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