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Every zip you ever opened is still in Downloads: one setting that moves them to the Trash

Archive Utility leaves the original zip next to what it extracted, so you keep everything twice. One hidden setting fixes it, and a command finds the old pairs.

4 min read

Double click a zip and macOS extracts it next to the original. The zip stays. Do that for a few years and your Downloads folder holds every archive twice: once compressed, once extracted. For large downloads, such as sample packs, design assets or data sets, that is a real amount of space.

The setting that fixes it

Archive Utility, the app that does the unzipping, has settings most people never find because it has no icon in Applications.

  1. In Finder, press Command Shift G and go to /System/Library/CoreServices/Applications/.
  2. Open Archive Utility.
  3. Choose Archive Utility, Settings from the menu bar.
  4. Set After expanding to move archive to Trash.

From then on the zip goes to the Trash after a successful extraction, where it stays recoverable until you empty it.

Finding the pairs you already have

cd ~/Downloads
for z in *.zip; do
  d="${z%.zip}"
  [ -d "$d" ] && du -sh "$z"
done

That lists each zip that has a folder of the same name beside it. Check the folder has what you need, then move the zip to the Trash.

Other archive types

  • .dmg disk images: once the app is installed, the image is clutter. See disk images taking up space.
  • .tar.gz, .7z, .rar: third party apps such as The Unarchiver have their own setting for what happens to the archive afterwards.

For the rest of the folder, see Downloads taking up space.

Common questions

How do I make my Mac delete zip files after unzipping?

Open Archive Utility from /System/Library/CoreServices/Applications, choose Archive Utility, Settings, and set After expanding to move archive to Trash.

Is it safe to delete a zip after extracting it?

Yes, once you have checked the extracted folder has what you need. The zip is only a compressed copy of the same files.

Where is Archive Utility on a Mac?

In /System/Library/CoreServices/Applications. It has no icon in the Applications folder, so open it with Finder's Go to Folder.

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