Extract multiple ZIP files

How to extract multiple ZIP files at once on Windows 11

To extract several independent ZIP files at once on Windows, run a PowerShell loop to give each ZIP its own folder, use 7-Zip's Extract to menu, or select the batch in EasyUnZip. File Explorer's Extract All wizard handles one archive at a time.

1. Put every archive in one folder

   Move the ZIP files you want to extract into a single folder. Every method below works on a whole folder at once, so this is what decides which archives are in the job and which are not.

2. Open PowerShell in that folder

   In File Explorer, hold Shift, right-click the empty space inside the folder and choose Open in Terminal, or type powershell in the address bar and press Enter. Either way the prompt opens already pointed at the folder you are looking at.

3. Run one line to give every archive its own folder

   Paste the Get-ChildItem line below and press Enter. Ten archives become ten folders, each named after the ZIP it came from, and nothing has to be installed first - Expand-Archive is part of Windows.

4. Or send them all to one folder instead

   Swap the destination for a single path, as the second command below does. Everything lands together, which is what you want when the archives are parts of one set rather than ten separate things.

5. Check the result before you delete anything

   Count the folders against the archives, and open one. Keep the ZIP files until you have. Read PowerShell's error output as well: an existing file or a failed archive can leave only part of the expected result in the destination.

The two commands, in full

Both run from the folder holding the archives, and both are one line. The first gives every archive a folder of its own, named after the archive:

Get-ChildItem -Filter *.zip | ForEach-Object { Expand-Archive -LiteralPath $_.FullName -DestinationPath (Join-Path $_.DirectoryName $_.BaseName) }

The second merges the lot into one folder:

Get-ChildItem -Filter *.zip | ForEach-Object { Expand-Archive -LiteralPath $_.FullName -DestinationPath C:\Extracted }

Expand-Archive has shipped with Windows since PowerShell 5, so it is on every Windows 10 and Windows 11 machine with nothing to install. It reads ZIP and only ZIP and does not support encrypted archives. These commands omit -Forceso existing files are not silently overwritten. If a name already exists, read the errors and check the result; some files may have extracted before the conflict. Add -Force only if you intend to replace existing files.-LiteralPath keeps brackets in archive names from becoming wildcards.Microsoft documents both options.

With 7-Zip, if you already have it

7-Zip is free, reads RAR as well as ZIP, and does this from the right-click menu. Select the archives, right-click, choose7-Zip, then Extract to *\. The asterisk is the whole feature: it means a folder per archive, named after it, which is the same result as the first command above without a terminal.

The commands below are for Command Prompt (cmd.exe), not PowerShell. They assume7z.exe is on PATH. If Windows cannot find 7z, replace it with "C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7z.exe", or the actual path where you installed 7-Zip. Keep the quotes around a path containing spaces.

The merge form takes a wildcard directly:

7z x *.zip -oExtracted

And the folder-per-archive form is a loop:

for %A in (*.zip) do 7z x "%A" -o"%~nA"

In a .bat file that becomes %%A in both places. Add-y to stop it asking about every collision, and read the next section before you do. Where 7-Zip is the better toolis written out in full.

Choose the right destination pattern

Each archive in its own folder

Best when the archives contain common names such as readme.txt or image01.jpg. The folder name comes from the archive name, so twelve ZIPs produce twelve clear folders.

Everything in one folder

Useful when several independent ZIPs contain files you want together, such as separate photo downloads. This is not the same as a multipart ZIP archive. Decide how name collisions work first, since files from different archives can share a name.

A separate path for each archive

Useful when the batch belongs to different projects or clients. The examples above do not assign a custom path to each archive; that needs an adapted script or a tool that lets you choose those paths together.

The collision nobody sees coming

Merging is where batches go wrong. Three archives that each contain areadme.txt produce one readme.txt, and with-Force or 7z -y they produce it silently - the command reports success, the file count looks plausible, and two files are gone. We ran exactly that while checking this page: three archives holding six files between them, merged into one folder, left four. The three readme.txt files became one, and nothing said so.

Give every archive its own folder unless you know the contents do not overlap. It costs a destination choice before you start. If a merge overwrites a needed file, keep the original archives so you can extract their copies into separate folders again.

Before merging archives into an existing folder, read how to extract without overwriting files. It covers Skip, Rename and the case where two archive names resolve to the same output folder.

With EasyUnZip, from one panel

A script or another archive tool can cover these cases too.EasyUnZip puts the choices together in one panel:

• ZIP and RAR in the same selection. Expand-Archive skips the RARs without saying so. EasyUnZip counts both and extracts both.
• An encrypted archive in the batch. Expand-Archive does not support it. EasyUnZip prompts for the password and holds it for the session only.
• A different destination for each archive. One panel, one pass, instead of one run per destination.

Select the archives in File Explorer, press Alt +E, choose one destination, a folder per archive, or a custom path for each, set the conflict rule once, and extract.It is free for 14 days. If you only need JPGs, PDFs or another type, filter the batch before extracting.