Sample ZIP Files

ZIP is an archive format with DEFLATE compression that supports multiple files in a single archive, directory hierarchy and metadata. Below are test ZIP archives: empty, single-file, with nested directories, with many small files, project release mock-up, mixed content and large archives for testing downloads and extraction

Sample file: Empty ZIP archive (valid headers, 0 files)
Empty ZIP archive (valid headers, 0 files)
22 bytes
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Sample file: ZIP with one text file
ZIP with one text file
188 bytes
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Sample file: ZIP with one HTML file
ZIP with one HTML file
294 bytes
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Sample file: ZIP with nested directories (3 levels)
ZIP with nested directories (3 levels)
1.2 Kb
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Sample file: ZIP with 100 small files (extraction stress test)
ZIP with 100 small files (extraction stress test)
12 Kb
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Sample file: Project-style ZIP (README, LICENSE, src/, tests/)
Project-style ZIP (README, LICENSE, src/, tests/)
1.5 Kb
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Sample file: ZIP with a mix of formats (txt, json, html, csv, xml, md)
ZIP with a mix of formats (txt, json, html, csv, xml, md)
1.3 Kb
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Sample file: Large ZIP archive, 1 MB
Large ZIP archive, 1 MB
1 Mb
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Sample file: Large ZIP archive, 10 MB
Large ZIP archive, 10 MB
10 Mb
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Sample file: Large ZIP archive, 50 MB
Large ZIP archive, 50 MB
50 Mb
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🧠 How ZIP works

ZIP is an archive format developed by Phil Katz in 1989. Each file is compressed independently with the DEFLATE algorithm (or stored uncompressed), followed by a central directory with metadata. It supports directory hierarchies, UTF-8 file names, encryption and the ZIP64 extension for archives larger than 4 GB. Universally supported across all operating systems and the standard zipfile in Python.

📂 Files source + directories 🗜️ DEFLATE compression LZ77 + Huffman 📑 Central directory metadata CRC32, sizes 🔑 Options password ZIP64 (>4 GB) UTF-8 names 📦 .zip archive