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How to fix "Unexpected end of archive" in Windows Explorer, WinZip, 7-Zip

Unexpected end of archive

What this error means

The archive is shorter than it should be: the index at the end is missing.

Why it happens

  • Download stopped early
  • Copy interrupted
  • Disk full while creating the archive

How to fix it

  1. Download the file again if you can
  2. Try 7-Zip: right-click › 7-Zip › Open archive — it lists files it can still see
  3. Upload it here to rebuild the archive from every file that survived

About ZIP archive files

A ZIP archive stores each file with its own small header, then a central directory (the index) at the very end. If the end of the file is missing, tools say the archive is invalid — but every file before the cut can still be read.

Other ZIP errors