ZIP File List Exporter

This tool reads a ZIP archive and produces a flat inventory of everything inside it: full path, folder, filename, extension, uncompressed size, folder depth, and the last-modified time the archive records. It exists for the moments when you need to describe a ZIP's contents to someone (or to yourself later) without unpacking it onto your disk.

The use cases that genuinely fit are documentary. Developers can attach a manifest to a release or hand-off ZIP so reviewers see the structure before extracting. Office and business users can produce a contents list for a client deliverable or a contract submission. Data and admin workers can turn an archive into a row-per-file table for a spreadsheet, and anyone keeping backups can confirm an archive still holds the files it should.

It only reads: the ZIP you drop in is the ZIP you keep. To get the files out, use an extract tool.

The flow is short. Drop or select a single .zip file (up to 300 MB), and the tool reads its central directory in your browser. A preview table appears showing path, extension, and size for the first 50 files, with a note when the archive holds more. Three buttons then export the complete list as CSV, TXT, or JSON.

Each format serves a different reader. The CSV carries nine columns (path, folder, name, extension, size in bytes, human-readable size, folder depth, an is-directory flag, and last-modified), quotes every value so paths with commas stay in one cell, and is marked as UTF-8 so Excel shows non-English names correctly; Google Sheets and Numbers open it too. The TXT is a plain padded listing with a small header summarizing total entries, file count, and folder count. The JSON lists files only, with their folder and metadata, for scripts and tooling.

Two scope notes: only the ZIP format is supported here, not RAR, 7z, or TAR, and nothing is decompressed or uploaded. Sizes reported are uncompressed (the file's real size), not the smaller compressed size stored in the archive.

ZIP files record each entry's modified time as the local time on the computer that created the archive, with no time zone. The export shows that time exactly as stored (for example 2024-05-01 10:20:30) rather than converting it, because there is no reliable way to know which zone it came from. A blank value means the archive stored none.

The CSV and JSON exports cover every entry, but the on-screen preview stops at 50 files. If you eyeball the table and assume that is the whole archive, you will undercount large ZIPs; always export to see the full set. The CSV also includes a row for each folder entry the ZIP stores, marked in the is-directory column, while the TXT and JSON list files only. Folder counts include folders that exist only as part of file paths.

Other pitfalls are practical. A corrupt or non-ZIP file, or a password-protected ZIP, is refused with a message saying which, rather than giving a partial list. And because sizes are uncompressed, the totals will not match the archive's compressed footprint on disk.

Start with the counts. Confirm the file and folder totals in the TXT header or the exported rows match what you expect from the archive, and spot-check a few known paths to be sure nesting and filenames came through intact, including any non-English characters.

Then sanity-check the metadata you actually care about. Sizes are uncompressed, so compare against the original files rather than the ZIP's compressed size; read the dates as the creator's local time; and if anything in the preview looked truncated, re-open the full export rather than trusting the 50-row view.

For a manifest that will be signed off, confirm the critical files, paths and sizes in a trusted archive tool too.