How can I open password protected zip file?

I have encountered the same situation as you before. I have forgotten the password of an old encrypted zip file. It is really frustrating. But don't worry. Although it is a bit difficult without third-party tools, there are still several ways to try. Maybe you can open password protected zip file. I have sorted out three ideas:

✅ Method 1: Try the command line tool powershell that comes with Windows
You can use PowerShell to call the compression function, but you have to guess the password to decrypt it. However, you can use a small script to run a batch of common passwords, such as:

powershell
Add-Type -Assembly 'System.IO.Compression.FileSystem'
[System.IO.Compression.ZipFile]::ExtractToDirectory("D:\test.zip", "D:\output", $true)

You change the password every time and try it once. Although it is a local method, it can be tried out bit by bit. It is suitable for when you may remember the password prefix or structure.

✅ Method 2: Open the zip file with Notepad to see if there are any clues
This trick can sometimes come in handy - open the zip file with Notepad (yes, right-click and open it with Notepad). Some compression tools will write the file name or comments when compressing. If you are lucky, you can see some hints about the password, such as the file name contains birthday, company name, etc.

Although it may not be possible to open the password protected zip file directly, it may help you regain your memory!

✅ Method 3: Use old computers or historical records to find clues
If you have an old computer, old browser, or even a tool record used to compress this file before, sometimes the compression tool will save the most recently used password or operation record, such as WinRAR's password history has been recorded in the registry.

This method is more roundabout, but I really used this to retrieve it once before, and finally opened the password protected zip file.