Working with archives
Opening, navigating, versions and searching inside an archive.
Opening an archive
Three ways:
- double-click the archive in the tree (in the Archive profile);
- File → Open Archive… (Ctrl+O) — available in both profiles;
- double-click a
.zpaqfile in Explorer — if the association is enabled (see Settings).
You can also open an archive from the Backup profile: double-click a task in the list to open its archive; the window switches to the Archive page and shows the contents. The profile itself does not change.
Opening runs two operations: reading the file list and requesting details about the archive. On a large archive that takes a noticeable while, so a Working… window appears to show the program is busy.
Archives with non-Latin names
The zpaqfranz engine cannot read paths with non-Latin
characters. The program works around it: when it meets such an archive,
it offers to rename it to a Latin name next to the original.
What to choose
Renaming is safe: the program creates a second file with the Latin name and leaves the original untouched. If you decline, work with the archive from a folder where short names are permitted.
Creating an archive with a non-Latin name works on its own: the engine creates the file and the name does not trouble it. There is one exception — adding files to an existing archive whose name is non-Latin. The engine cannot open such an archive, so the program refuses with an explanation rather than doing it silently.
Navigation
Inside an archive everything works as it does in folders: double-click to go in, the breadcrumbs along the top show the path and let you go back, and View → Refresh (F5) re-reads the contents.
Versions
The list of versions is in Archive → Archive Versions and in the Archive Information… window (Alt+Enter).
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Version | Version number in the archive |
| Date, Time | When the version was created |
| Size | How much of the archive the version takes |
| Added, Removed | How many files appeared and disappeared in this version |
| Comment | The version comment, if one was given at creation |
Latest versions only
View → Latest versions only is a switch. Off, the folder lists every version of every file as a separate row. On, each folder shows only the freshest copy of each file.
The second mode is the familiar one: it looks like an ordinary folder. The first is useful when you need to see what was there before.
Version slice
To see the archive as it was at a given version, pick that version and switch on the slice. The status bar shows "Snapshot: archive state at version N" and the table lists the files as they were then.
A slice is a view only. Extracting from a slice works; adding files within a slice is not available.
Searching
Archive → Search in archive (Ctrl+F). The field appears above the table and searches both names and paths.
| Character | Meaning |
|---|---|
* | Any number of any characters |
? | Exactly one character |
Examples: *.docx — all Word documents;
Report* — anything starting with "Report";
*/2024/* — anything inside a folder called 2024 at any
depth.
A counter to the right of the field shows how many were found and how many are shown. If far more were found than shown, narrow the search.
Esc in the search field clears it and hides the search bar.
Incomplete list
If the engine produced lines in an unexpected format, the program counts the lines it could not read and says so in the status bar, with details in the log. A truncated list therefore does not look complete, and will not be taken for complete.