How to unzip a file in your own bucket

You already have a .zip in a bucket you own. You want the files out without downloading the archive to a laptop first.

Your files stay in the bucket you connected, and file.rocks is how you manage them. Open the zip in Files, skim the entry list, then extract into the same bucket.

This is server extract from the zip preview. It is not how to upload files to your own bucket or how to upload a folder to your own bucket. It is not how to let others upload files to your own bucket (transfer links). It is not Settings, then Import, which is the path for Google Takeout and other huge archives.

1. No bucket yet

You need S3-compatible object storage. Not another Drive clone.

If you do not have a bucket hooked up, follow how to connect a Backblaze B2 bucket and come back. For the price table, see the cheapest cloud object storage comparison.

2. Open the zip in Files

Sign in at file.rocks. Open Files. Pick a bucket you own.

Click a .zip row you own. The built-in media player opens the zip preview. You are not on a public share view. Extract is for signed-in owners.

3. Check the entries, then extract

The header shows how many entries are in the archive. On wider screens you also see Server extract max 512 MB.

Click Extract to bucket. The button shows Extracting… while it runs.

When it finishes, a toast reports how many files landed and where, like Extracted 12 files to project-photos/. If some entries were skipped, the toast includes that count too. The Files list refreshes.

4. Where the files land

By default, extracted objects go under a folder named like the zip, with .zip removed. So reports/q3.zip lands under reports/q3/, with the same relative paths as inside the archive.

Open that folder and spot-check a file. If you only needed a peek, how to preview a file in your own bucket covers opening individual objects after they land.

5. When to use Import instead

If the archive is over the server extract max, or you are unpacking a Google Takeout, use Settings, then Import. The product points you there when the zip is too large for this button.

Import is also the path when you are still pulling a library from Drive or Photos. Start at Move Google Drive to your own bucket or Move Google Photos to your own bucket if the files are not in your bucket yet.

6. What this is not

This is not uploading. Dropping files or folders into Files is how to upload files to your own bucket and how to upload a folder to your own bucket.

This is not a transfer link. Asking someone else to send you files is how to let others upload files to your own bucket.

This is not pulling a single remote URL or torrent into the bucket. That path is import a file from a link or torrent.

This is not preview alone. Clicking the zip to read the entry list without extracting is fine. Extract is the extra step when you want the objects sitting in the bucket.

7. Then stop

Need the zip in the bucket first? That is how to upload files to your own bucket.

Need to peek at a file after extract? That is how to preview a file in your own bucket.

Need someone else to drop files in? That is how to let others upload files to your own bucket.