List Archive Contents

Why list archive contents with Tools Root

Sometimes you just need to know what's inside an archive before committing to a full extraction, especially for a large or unfamiliar file. This free tool reads an archive's real internal file listing directly in the browser, without extracting anything.

A genuine directory read, not a full extraction

This reads the archive's actual internal structure, file names, sizes, and folder organization, directly from its metadata, without decompressing any file content — a real, distinct operation from extraction, and a faster one for simply checking what's there.

A free archive content viewer for five formats

Whether checking a ZIP, 7Z, TAR, GZ, or RAR archive, this tool lists every file inside at no cost, with a downloadable text version of the listing if you need to save or share it.

Common use cases

Checking what's inside a large archive before deciding whether to download or extract it, verifying an archive contains the expected files before sharing it further, browsing a downloaded archive's structure to find a specific file, getting a quick file count and size overview of an archive, or auditing an old archive's contents before deciding whether to keep it.

Related archive tools

Once you know what's inside, Extract Archive pulls out the actual files, and Add Files to Archive can update a ZIP with new content.

Why checking contents first can save time

Extracting a large archive just to see what's inside, only to find it isn't what you needed, wastes both time and, on a slower connection or device, real processing effort. Reading the directory listing first, without extracting anything, answers the "what's actually in here" question directly and quickly, before any heavier extraction work happens.

Understanding an archive's structure from its file listing

A file's full listed path, including any folders it sits inside, reveals how the archive's creator organized its contents — useful for anticipating what extracting the archive will actually produce, a flat pile of files versus a structured set of folders, before extraction actually happens.