When opening ZIP files or other archives inside WinZip, you may come across "Readme" files that explain information about an application. Or, if you download compressed images or audio files, you may wish to view or listen to these multimedia files without having to uncompress the entire archive.

As a convenience feature, you can view the contents of a ZIP file in WinZip without having to uncompress the file. What happens is that WinZip will create a temporary copy of the uncompressed file from the archive, allow you to view its contents, and then remove the file when you are done. Otherwise you would have to uncompress the file and remember to delete it yourself later.

To view a file inside a ZIP archive:

1. Click on a file inside an archive you wish to view.

2. Either press SHIFT+V, select "Actions" - "View", or right-click the file and select "View", "View with internal viewer", or "View with" and the name of an associated program.

3. Unless you specifically chose which viewer to use by right-clicking the file, a "View" dialog box will appear. From here you can choose to view the file with either the program Windows thinks is most appropriate, an internal ASCII viewer inside WinZip that can display most text files, or a program of your choosing. Select the desired radio button.

4. If appropriate, click the folder to choose your desired viewing application.

5. Click "View" to view the file.

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