Is WinZip Safe for Your Windows? Here Are Answers! - MiniTool (2024)

What is WinZip? Is WinZip safe? Is WinZip a virus? You may have these questions and do not know whether it is safe to use WinZip on your computer. So, this post from MiniTool will cover what the WinZip is and whether the WinZip is safe.

What Is WinZip?

WinZip is a trialware file archiver and compressor for Windows, macOS, iOS and Android developed by WinZip Computing. WinZip allows you to compress files to open compressed files in .zip format.

WinZip also has built-in support for the most popular file compression and archive formats including gzip, hqx, cab, Unix compress, and tar. It can also unpack some other archive file formats.

The main features of WinZip are listed below:

• Zip files to reduce email attachment size.
• Unzip all major file formats.
• Protect files with banking-level encryption.
• Access and manage files on your PC, network and clouds.
• Connect to Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive and others.

With its powerful features, many computer users choose to install the WinZip on their computers. But, some users also ask whether it is safe to download WinZip on their computers.

Is WinZip Safe?

Is WinZip safe? Is WinZip good? This would be a hot topic.

WinZip is safe in all its versions and does not contain any virus as long as you get it from its official site. So, you are recommended to download WinZip from its official site or a safe website.

Because it is safe and does not contain any virus or malware, WinZip is the first choice of many organizations, government agencies or companies. You can also use it to zip or unzip files

WinZip is a powerful and easy-to-use compression and encryption utility that quickly zips and unzips files to conserve disk space, greatly reduce email transmission time and protect your essential data.

Why so many people choose WinZip?

Why Can You Choose WinZip?

Besides the WinZip is a piece of free-virus and safe software, there are a lot of other reasons for you to choose WinZip.

First, compressing your files to a significantly smaller size can save the space of your storage devices.

Second, smaller file size reduces the bandwidth required to share files over your network, enjoying better uploading and downloading speed.

Third, zip and send large file attachments to clients and partners without worrying that they will bounce back or exceed server limits.

Forth, organize and store large groups of files by zipping them into a single package, while keeping their original folder structures intact.

Fifth, open and extract files selectively without having to unzip the compressed folder.

Sixth, open, edit and resave a zipped file directly from its compressed folder without having to unzip it.

Seventh, another important advantage of WinZip is security and privacy. All of WinZip’s compression products are equipped with AES encryption, providing excellent protection for the files and folders. Also, WinZip allows you to back up and protect vital files with a few simple clicks and no extra investment. But this feature only available in the WinZip Pro version.

Related article:Is 7-Zip Safe? You Can Trust It

Different Voices of WinZip

Although WinZip has a lot of advantages, there are also some negative voices on it.

Some people say there is no free version of this software, so this may be a disadvantage to many organizations that are looking for a low or no-cost solution.

Also, a user forum Quora forum said that he received a warning from AVG antivirus that WinZip was infected with Trojan Horse Generic 17.ANEV.

Another negative voice is that WinZip reduces the space in the storage box and it causes risks on the system and even causes some unexpected errors.

Is WinZip safe? Is WinZip a virus? It is a safe and free-virus program by itself. WinZip does not give a virus, but the files you download might. So be careful what you download and where you download it from and do not easily open a compressed file from an unknown source. Hence, if you don’t download WinZip from its official site, you had better uninstall it first and reinstall it from its official site to avoid some unexpected errors.

How to Uninstall WinZip?

Therefore, do you know how to uninstall WinZip completely? This part will show you how to completely uninstall WinZip from your PC safely and efficiently. Please note that removing a folder with an application isn’t a proper way. Everything needs to be cleaned and eliminated once and for all.

Now, here is the tutorial.

1. To uninstall WinZip, you need to quit it first. Go to the Task Manager and switch to the Processestab.

2. Select WinZip and right-click it, and then choose End Task.

3. After that, open Control Panel.

4. Choose Uninstall a program under the Programssection.

5. Select WinZip and right-click it.

6. Then choose Uninstall to continue and wait for the process to be finished.

7. After uninstalling WinZip, there may be some fragments remaining in some system folders and you need to check for that.

8. Press the Windows key and R key together to open the Rundalog.

9. Type regedit in the box and click OK to continue.

10. Then navigate to the path: Computer\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\WinZip

11. Select WinZip folder and right-click it, and then choose Delete to continue.

12. Then press the Ctrl key and F key together to open the Find tool, use it to find all WinZip folders and delete them.

13. Open File Explorer, switch the View tab, choose Options, and click Change folder and search options.

14. In the pop-up window, go to the Viewtab.

15. Then check the options Show hidden files and folders and click Apply and OK to continue.

16. Then go to the three paths: C:/Users/Name/AppData/Local, C:/Users/Name/AppData/Roaming and C:/ProgramData.

17. Check whether there is a WinZip folder in these paths. If yes, delete it.

After all steps are finished, you have completely uninstalled WinZip from your computer and you can download a safe one from its official website to install.

Is WinZip safe? After reading the above part, you already have the answers. WinZip is a piece of safe and free-antivirus software. But when using WinZip on your computer, there are still some things you need to pay attention to.

This post elaborated on what WinZip is and helped me know the advantages of WinZip. Click to Tweet

Suggestion to Use WinZip

Although WinZip and WinZip website is free-virus and safe, there is still a chance that the WinZip may be affected or WinZip causes damage to your computer, as the users mentioned in the forum.

So, when using WinZip on your computer, there are some suggestions for you.

Suggestion 1. Download WinZip from a Safe and Reliable Source

Make sure you get and maintain your WinZip from a secure source. The most secure one is the official site. So, it is recommended to download and install WinZip from its official site.

Suggestion 2. Do Not Open Unknown Files

As mentioned above, WinZip is a safe program, but the file WinZip zipped or unzipped may be affected by a virus. So, the WinZip and your computer may be affected. In order to keep your computer and safe, do not open files from an unknown source.

Suggestion 3. Install the Latest Version of WinZip

When using WinZip on your computer, please install the latest version of the software. The outdated version of the software is easily attacked by malware or virus. The software update is able to fix some bugs. So, when using WinZip on your computer, please remember to download and install the latest version.

Suggestion 4. Scan Your Computer Regularly

No one can guarantee that the file or the software is 100% safe. So, performing the virus scan on your computer regularly is necessary. For example, after downloading WinZip from its official site and before installing, you can run a virus scan and check whether the file you download is safe.

To scan your computer, Windows provides a built-in tool – Windows Defender. Therefore, you can use this tool to scan your computer for malware or virus so as to keep your computer safe.

Suggestion 5. Back up Your Files Regularly

Apart from the above suggestions, you should also make a backup of your crucial data regularly to avoid data loss. Besides, file backup provides you a way to restore them if there are some accidents happen. As mentioned in the advantage of the WinZip section, WinZip enables you to back up files but it can only available in the WinZip Pro version. So, you need to pay for it if you want to do that.

But, here, we provide you a piece of free backup software – MiniTool ShadowMaker. It allows you to back up files with a few clicks, and even create the automatic file backup.

Now, we will show you how to back up files with the WinZip alternative – MiniTool ShadowMaker.

1. Download MiniTool ShadowMaker from the following button, install it and launch it.

2. Click Keep Trial.

3. After entering its main interface, go to the Backup Then click the Source module to continue.

4. Then click Folders and Files. In the next pop-up window, choose the files you want to back up and click OK to continue.

5. Then click the Destination module to choose a target disk to save the backups and click OK. It is recommended to choose an external hard drive.

6. After selecting the backup source and destination, click Back up Now to perform the backup task.

Then wait for the process to be finished and the costing time depends on the number of your files. After that, you have provided good protection for your files.

What’s more, MiniTool ShadowMaker is also able to back up partitions, disks and the operating system. You can also use it to create a system image.

Bottom Line

Is WinZip safe? Is WinZip safe to download? After reading this post, you have gotten the answer. WinZip and the WinZip website are safe and free-virus. But when using it, you need to pay attention to some things, such as updating it to the latest version, not opening a file from an unknown source, etc.

If you have some different ideas of WinZip security and have any problem with MiniTool ShadowMaker, you can leave a message in the comment zone or feel free to contact us via email [emailprotected] and we will reply to you as soon as possible.

Is WinZip Safe FAQ?