How To Unzip .ZIP Files!

+ THE MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED AGENT QUESTION

Ah, the good ole' .ZIP file. Fast and extremely useful, but if you're not accustomed to working with one, the process can become slow and tedious. In this article I'll explain their purpose, usage and how you can unzip your files from HomeVisit. At the end of the article, you'll be better acquainted with .ZIP files so that you can master them with ease!

So what are .ZIP files? .ZIP files are archives that can store multiple files. They compress a large number of files into a size that can be quickly and safely downloaded to your computer. In a broad sense, I like to think of .ZIP files as being similar to carry on luggage. With carry on luggage, typically, you have many items that need to be packed in tight to a small space to save you the time and money of checking a bag. You pack as many items in your carry on bag as possible and then zip it up for easy transport. Once you reach your destination, you unpack all the items and put them in their appropriate place. .ZIP files are very similar. In HomeVisit's case, we use .ZIP files to transfer a large number of images (from your photoshoot) from our server to your computer. This will save you from the painstaking process of downloading images one by one. Follow along to learn the steps for a successful .ZIP file downloading experience.

1. You WILL need to know where your downloads are saved on your computer! This is a very common issue we run into with agents. We can guide an agent along the process of downloading a .ZIP file, however, once it's downloaded, they don't know where the file went to. If you know where your downloads go to, great! Go ahead and move to step 2. If you don't know where your downloads go to, take a look at the instructions below to create a default folder for your downloads.

**As a side note, I've provided instructions using the popular browsers Google Chrome and Safari. These are browsers we recommend. If you are using a different browser, your results may vary**

INSTRUCTIONS FOR CREATING A DEFAULT DOWNLOADS FOLDER FOR GOOGLE CHROME

Open up your Google Chrome Browser. In the top right hand corner of the browser, select the icon with the 3 lines. Then select the "settings" option.



Once you've selected the "settings" option, towards the top of the screen, type the word "downloads" into the search field.



At the bottom of the screen, under the downloads option, it displays the folder that is currently your default download folder. If you want to select a different folder, simply click "change" and select the new folder from your computer. Alternatively, you can select the checkbox underneath the default download folder, and it will prompt you to choose a location to save your downloads every time.



INSTRUCTIONS FOR CREATING A DEFAULT DOWNLOADS FOLDER FOR SAFARI

Open up your Safari browser and click the "Safari" option in the top left hand corner



Then select the option that says "Preferences"



When the screen pops up, towards the bottom, you'll notice it says "File Download Location". Your "Downloads" folder is most likely already the default folder.



If you want to change the file download location folder, click on the up/down arrows to the right of the "Downloads" folder. You'll have the option to click "other" to choose a new folder, or you can select the option that will prompt you to select a folder you'd like to save to every time you download something.



Once you've selected your default download folder, you're good to move on to step 2!

2. Downloading the .ZIP file. Now that you have your downloads folder ready to go, let's login to your HomeVisit account and prepare to download the images from your listing. Most of you should be familiar with downloading photos from our website, but if you're not, take a moment to review this quick tutorial.

UNZIPPING A .ZIP FILE WITH GOOGLE CHROME

Now that you have the images downloaded, they're most likely sitting there in the bottom left hand corner of your screen. If there is, go ahead and double click the file to open it. It also may have prompted you with an "open" or "save as" option, if so, select the "open" option. If you don't have either of those options, this is the point where you'll need to go to your default downloads folder and double click the download to open it.



Once you've opened the .ZIP file, select the top option that says "Extract".



Then select the "Extract All" option.



Once the "Extract All" option opens up, it's going to prompt you to select a place on your computer that you'd like to save them to. Choose the folder location you want to save the pictures to, and then click the "select folder" button.



All of your images will then be extracted to that folder. When you login to your MLS account, you'll be ready to upload your pictures from that file location!

UNZIPPING A .ZIP FILE WITH SAFARI

Downloading >ZIP files with Safari is fairly simple. There is no extracting of the files as with Google Chrome. Once you've downloaded the images via Safari, the file location should show in the bottom right of your screen next to your trashcan icon.



Click on your "downloads" folder, and an accordion of previously downloaded files will display. Select the property address folder.



Once you have selected the property address folder, it will open up in Finder and display your downloaded pictures.



At this point, the file is unzipped! No further action is needed. When you go into your MLS account to upload the images, simply select your downloads folder and then the property folder to upload from.

That's it! Hopefully you've learned a little bit about .ZIP files and how to utilize them. If you have additional questions, or need help, please don't hesitate to give us a call!