You’ll find some files shrink a lot-compressed text files can be half the size of the originals-and others not so much. But what do you do if a file won’t expand or you come across a different type of archive? Here are answers to frequently asked questions about working with compressed files on Mac OS X.Ī: File compression technology looks for repeated data and writes archives that eliminate these repetitions to save space. A zip file, or archive, takes up less space than the original files, so that your documents, images and whatnot are easier to send or store. Double-click one of these and it expands to show files hidden inside. If you’ve ever sent, or received, a big file via email, you’ve undoubtably encountered a zip file.
