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MichelleG2
Participant
May 13, 2020
Answered

cannot open zipped file

  • May 13, 2020
  • 2 replies
  • 8681 views

I am trying to open a zipped file uploaded by my professor through adobe acrobat reader but it keeps giving me an error message which states the file is not supported or it has been damaged. The other students have been able to access it without a problem though.

Correct answer AnandSri

Hello!

 

I hope you are doing well, and sorry for the delayed response.

 

A .zip file is not a .pdf file. You need to extract the PDF from the .zip archive before Adobe Reader or any other PDF viewer or editor can open it. Please extract the files from the zip folder and then open the PDFs. See this article for more information: https://adobe.ly/4iWv3sn

 

Thanks,

Anand Sri.

2 replies

B
balanced_photographer2796
Participant
March 13, 2025

I am having the same problem and can't get an answer.  This started happening out of the blue. Initially, I was able to open the zip files.

 

AnandSri
AnandSriCorrect answer
Legend
March 18, 2025

Hello!

 

I hope you are doing well, and sorry for the delayed response.

 

A .zip file is not a .pdf file. You need to extract the PDF from the .zip archive before Adobe Reader or any other PDF viewer or editor can open it. Please extract the files from the zip folder and then open the PDFs. See this article for more information: https://adobe.ly/4iWv3sn

 

Thanks,

Anand Sri.

M
Maureen0D4D
Participant
April 3, 2025

I am having the same issue with attachments sent by email. I can't extract the individual pdfs if I can't open the zip folder. I download the folder and then, when I try to open it I get that same error message. So now I have to preview and download each attachment individually.

Dov Isaacs
Dov Isaacs
Legend
May 13, 2020

A .zip file is not a .pdf file. You need to extract the .pdf file from the .zip file before Adobe Reader or any other PDF file reader or editor can open the PDF contents. The “other students” could not have directly opened the PDF file without extracting it first from the ZIP file.

 

You didn't say what operating system you were running on, but depending upon the OS, you can sometimes click on a ZIP file and it will be opened like a directory / folder from which you can then click on any of the contents and invoke the proper application. I sustpect that is what the other students did.

 

 

- Dov Isaacs, former Adobe Principal Scientist (April 30, 1990 - May 30, 2021)
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