How to Extract a Zip File in Python

Problem Formulation and Solution Overview

This article will show you how to extract a zip file in Python.

A ZIP file is an archive file format that compresses one or more files into one primary location. This file type is known to quickly and easily transfer large amounts of data.

Let’s say you have been asked to download the latest U.S. Zip Codes and Canadian Postal Code CSV files. These files are located inside a zip file at a specified URL. To follow along, download this zip file and save it into the current working directory.

💬 Question: How would we write code to extract the contents of a Zip file?

We can accomplish this task by one of the following options:

• Method 1: Use extractall()
• Method 2: Use unpack_archive()
• Method 3: Use Shell Command
• Bonus: Extract Multiple Zip Files

Method 1: Use extractall()

This example imports Python’s built-in zipfile library and then calls the extractall() function to extract the contents of a zip file.

from zipfile import ZipFile
zip_file = 'ZipCodeFiles.zip'
  
with ZipFile(zip_file, 'r') as zp:
    zp.extractall()
    zp.printdir()

The first line in the above code imports the ZipFile function from the zipfile library. This allows for file extraction.

The following line declares the name of the zip file downloaded earlier. This file should reside in the current working directory.

Next, this file is opened in read (r) mode, and a file object, zp, is created. This object provides access to and manipulation of files. If output to the terminal, an object similar to the one below will display.

💡Note: To perform file manipulations, the object created above must first be referenced, then a function to apply to this object is appended (example, zp.extractall()).

The following line calls extractall() to extract the zip file’s contents. These files are placed inside the current working directory.

The printdir() function is called and outputs a list of the extracted files to the terminal, as shown below.

An interesting point is that if you output the contents of the file object zp, at this point, an object similar to the one below will display.

Notice that the file object is now closed, indicating that no further file manipulation can occur.

Method 2: Use unpack_archive()

This example imports the shutil library and then calls the shutil.unpack_archive() function to extract the zip file.

import shutil

zip_file = 'ZipCodeFiles.zip'
shutil.unpack_archive(zip_file, 'csv'

The first line in the above code imports the shutil library. This library offers numerous file operations, including unpack.archive(). This function extracts a zip (archive) file.

👉 Recommended Tutorial: Python shutil: High-Level File Operations Demystified

The following line declares the name of the zip file downloaded earlier. This file should reside in the current working directory.

The next line calls the shutil.unpack_archive() function and passes it into two (2) arguments: the name of the zip file saved earlier and the path or folder to which to save the extracted files. In this case, the CSV folder.

Once this code has been run, the following two (2) CSV files should now reside in the CSV folder.

Method 3: Use Shell Command

This example runs at the command prompt in the shell and imports the zipfile library to extract the zip file.

$ python -m zipfile -e 'ZipCodeFiles.zip' 'csv'

Navigate to the command prompt. In this example, our command prompt has a $ sign. Your command prompt may differ.

This line imports the zipfile library, and uses -e to indicate extract the zip file ZipCodeFiles.zip into the CSV directory.

Once this code has been run, the following two (2) CSV files should now reside in the CSV folder.

Bonus: Extract Multiple Zip Files

What happens if you have multiple zip files? What method can you use to extract these file types?

import zipfile
import os

os.chdir('zipped')

for file in os.listdir('.'):
    with zipfile.ZipFile(file, 'r') as zp:
        zp.extractall('.')

The first line in the above code imports the ZipFile function from the zipfile library. This allows for file extraction on single or multiple zip files. The os library is also imported to allow the interaction of files and directories.

The following line changes the directory to zipped, where all the zip files for this example are located. The contents of this folder are shown below.

Next, a for loop is instantiated to iterate through each file inside this folder (os.listdir('.')) shown above. Upon each iteration, the appropriate zip file is opened in read (r) mode and extracted to the current directory. Which is now zipped.

Summary

This article has provided four (4) ways to extract a zip file to select the best fit for your coding requirements.

Good Luck & Happy Coding!

Programming Humor – Python

Kat McKelvie

At university, I found my love of writing and coding. Both of which I was able to use in my career.

During the past 15 years, I have held a number of positions such as:

In-house Corporate Technical Writer for various software programs such as Navision and Microsoft CRM
Corporate Trainer (staff of 30+)
Programming Instructor
Implementation Specialist for Navision and Microsoft CRM
Senior PHP Coder