Splitting large ZIP files into multiple smaller volumes for easier transport.

Products

• Education: General

Issue/Introduction

Users may need to split a large compressed ZIP archive into smaller segments (spanned volumes) to bypass file size limitations in email attachments, cloud storage, or filesystem constraints (e.g., FAT32 4GB limit).

Environment

Universal (Windows, Linux, macOS).

 

Cause

Need for granular file management of large compressed datasets.

 

Resolution

To split a ZIP file using common command-line and GUI tools, follow these steps:

Option 1: Using 7-Zip (Windows GUI)

1. Right-click the folder or file you wish to compress.

2. Select 7-Zip > Add to archive...

3. In the Split to volumes, bytes field, select a preset size (e.g., 650M, 4480M) or type a custom size (e.g., 100M for 100MB parts).

4. Click OK.

Option 2: Using the zip command (Linux/macOS) To create a spanned zip archive from an existing large file or folder:

1. Open a terminal.

2. Run the following command: zip -s 100m -r output_split.zip /path/to/source_folder Note: -s 100m sets the split size to 100MB.

To Rejoin: Using 7-Zip (Windows GUI)

 

1. Open the 7-Zip File Manager.

2. Navigate to the folder containing the parts.

3. Right-click the first part (e.g., .zip.001 or .z01).

4. Select Combine files... and click OK.