ExtractArchive [source]
expands an archive file, saving its content into the current directory.
ExtractArchive [source,dir]
saves the content of an archive file into directory dir.
ExtractArchive [source,dir,pattern]
extracts only files whose names match pattern.
ExtractArchive
ExtractArchive [source]
expands an archive file, saving its content into the current directory.
ExtractArchive [source,dir]
saves the content of an archive file into directory dir.
ExtractArchive [source,dir,pattern]
extracts only files whose names match pattern.
Details and Options
- ExtractArchive can be used to extract files from an archive file, and returns the names of the files and directories it created.
- ExtractArchive supports a variety of file formats, including ZIP, TAR, GZIP, BZIP2, ZSTD, 7z, RAR and ISO.
- In ExtractArchive [source,…], source can be any of the following:
-
URL ["url"] or "url" HTTP, HTTPS or FTP URL
- By default, ExtractArchive saves the extracted content in the current working directory given by Directory [].
- The archive to be extracted can be specified using a relative or absolute file specification.
- The destination directory can be given as a relative or absolute directory path.
- By default, if any file in the archive to be extracted already exists, ExtractArchive returns $Failed without creating any directories or files.
- Directories extracted by ExtractArchive may already exist.
- The following options can be given:
-
- Possible settings for OverwriteTarget include:
-
False if any file from the archive already exists, do nothing and failTrue overwrite any existing filesAutomatic only extract files that do not exist"KeepBoth" keep the existing file, automatically choosing a name for the new file
- ExtractArchive [url] accepts the following URLDownload options:
-
- ExtractArchive [source] does not delete source.
Examples
open all close allBasic Examples (2)
Uncompress a GZIP file, storing the result in the current directory:
Delete the resulting files:
Specify the destination directory:
Delete the resulting files:
Scope (2)
Create an archive from the ExampleData directory:
Extract only JPEG files from the resulting archive:
Delete the resulting files and archive:
Extract an archive from a URL:
Delete the resulting files:
Options (4)
CreateIntermediateDirectories (2)
By default, intermediate directories are automatically created:
Delete the created directory:
Prevent creation of intermediate directories to the destination path:
IgnoreCase (1)
Create an archive from the ExampleData directory:
By default, ExtractArchive uses case sensitive patterns:
Use IgnoreCase -> True to treat lowercase and uppercase letters as equivalents:
Delete the resulting files and archive:
OverwriteTarget (1)
Create a ZIP archive:
Extract only the JPEG files from the archive:
Delete the first two extracted files:
By default, ExtractArchive will not extract any contents if any destination files already exist:
Use OverwriteTarget->Automatic to only extract files that do not already exist:
Use OverwriteTarget->True to overwrite any existing files:
Properties & Relations (1)
CreateArchive creates a zip archive on the file system:
ExtractArchive creates new files with the extracted contents, without reading the file into memory:
Import can be used to import a specific file from an archive directly into Wolfram Language:
See Also
Related Guides
History
Introduced in 2010 (8.0) | Updated in 2017 (11.1) ▪ 2020 (12.1) ▪ 2020 (12.2)
Text
Wolfram Research (2010), ExtractArchive, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ExtractArchive.html (updated 2020).
CMS
Wolfram Language. 2010. "ExtractArchive." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2020. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ExtractArchive.html.
APA
Wolfram Language. (2010). ExtractArchive. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ExtractArchive.html
BibTeX
@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_extractarchive, author="Wolfram Research", title="{ExtractArchive}", year="2020", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ExtractArchive.html}", note=[Accessed: 05-December-2025]}
BibLaTeX
@online{reference.wolfram_2025_extractarchive, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={ExtractArchive}, year={2020}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ExtractArchive.html}, note=[Accessed: 05-December-2025]}