Archive Inspector

Archive Inspector answers one question before you commit to a download or an extraction: what is actually inside this ZIP? Because it reads the archive's central directory without unpacking anything, it suits the moment you receive a .zip from email, a form upload, a client, or a download link and want to look before you trust. Developers use it to confirm a release bundle or a deploy artifact contains the expected folder structure and nothing stray; office and admin users use it to verify a vendor or applicant sent the right documents inside the right folders.

It also fits data-prep and housekeeping work. The compression ratio and uncompressed total tell you how much disk space an archive will really claim once expanded, which is useful before extracting a large dataset or backup. The file-type breakdown and duplicate-name count help you judge whether a ZIP is the clean export you intended to ship or a cluttered one carrying caches, system files, and repeats. For anyone sharing archives onward, a quick inspection is a sanity check that you are not forwarding hidden files or an unexpectedly bloated bundle.

Drop or select a single .zip file (up to 300 MB) onto the tool. It parses the archive entirely in your browser using a ZIP reader, then displays a dashboard: total files and folders, compressed size, uncompressed size, the compression ratio, and a duplicate-name count. Below that you get a file-type breakdown by extension (share of total size and file count), flags for hidden files, system files, encryption, and duplicates, and a searchable, collapsible file tree of every entry. You can export the full listing as a CSV with path, name, extension, byte size, folder depth, and directory flag.

Alongside this it runs a file-structure risk check that flags executables and scripts, misleading double extensions (such as invoice.pdf.exe), macro-enabled Office files, hidden dot-files, absolute or traversal paths, an archive-bomb-style expansion ratio above roughly 50 to 1, and unusually high file counts. Each finding names example paths so you can judge context. What it does not do: it does not extract files, modify the archive, decrypt password-protected entries, or scan file contents for malware. It reads metadata and filenames, not the bytes inside each file.

The most important limit is scope: this is ZIP-only. RAR, 7z, TAR, GZ, and other container formats are not supported, so pointing it at a .rar or .7z will fail to read rather than inspect. The 300 MB ceiling and the fact that everything runs in your browser mean very large archives depend on your device's memory; an extremely large or deeply nested ZIP can be slow or strain a low-memory machine.

The risk panel is the easiest part to over-read. It is a structural and naming check, not antivirus and not a content scan, and the tool says so directly. A clean, low-risk result means nothing structurally alarming was found in the filenames and layout, not that the files are safe to run. Conversely, a flagged executable or macro file is not proof of malice, only a prompt to consider the source. For encrypted ZIPs, sizes and the tree may be limited because entry contents cannot be read, and the compression ratio reflects what the archive reports, which is not a precise forecast of post-extraction disk use to the byte.

Start with the headline counts: do the file and folder totals match what you expected to receive, and does the uncompressed size look sane next to the on-disk size? Scan the file-type breakdown for surprises, then check the flags row for hidden files, system files, and duplicate names, opening the tree or searching by name to see where they sit. Read every risk finding and look at the example paths it lists rather than just the overall level, paying attention to executables, double extensions, macros, and any traversal or absolute paths. If you plan to keep a record, export the CSV so the listing survives after the tab closes, since nothing is stored once you leave.

Treat the inspection as a preview, not a verdict. For official, financial, or legal material, verify the contents manually after a trusted extraction and, where it matters, run a real antivirus scan and confirm checksums or signatures against the sender. A green risk level here only means the filenames and structure raised no flags; it is not a guarantee of authenticity or safety, so make the final call yourself before acting on anything consequential.