.ZIP File Extension

A ZIP file is an archive that contains one or more files compressed or "zipped" using Zip compression. It stores files separately from each other allowing the files to be compressed using different methods and extracted without compressing or decompressing the entire archive.

The Zip format was created in 1989 by Phil Katz and was used in the PKZIP utility developed by PKWARE, Inc. The format grew in popularity and is now supported by most file compression/decompression programs.

You may encounter ZIP files in a variety of ways, such as receiving compressed files via email from a friend or co-worker, downloading files online, or exploring backup files that have been compressed with Zip compression. Both Windows and macOS come with programs that can compress and decompress ZIP files.

How do I open a ZIP file?

In Windows, you can open a ZIP file with File Explorer, also known as "Windows Explorer," simply by double-clicking the file. You can then choose one, multiple, or all of the files to extract from the Zip archive. In macOS, you can open a ZIP file with Apple Archive Utility by double-clicking the file.

How do I create a ZIP file?

Windows users can create ZIP archives by right-clicking a file and selecting "Send to → Compressed (zipped) Folder." macOS users can create ZIP archives by right-clicking a file and selecting "Compress [filename]."

Game file used by MAME arcade video game emulators; may contain the entire contents of the arcade game data, or may be supplemented by .CHD arcade hard disk file, which is required in order to play the game; stored in a compressed .ZIP format.

MAME ROMs are sometimes difficult to load properly due to file format and emulation software differences. Therefore, some emulators are distributed with a tool that verifies whether a ROM can be loaded or not.