How can I open password protected zip file?

There are some other command line methods that you can try to open password protected zip file on Windows 11. Although they are not 100% successful, if you want to try it yourself without third-party GUI software, there are still some ways to go. Here are three command line methods I know 👇

Method 1: Use 7z command (p7zip)

If you have the command line version of 7-Zip installed, you can use 7z to manually enter the password to try to decompress:

bash
7z x protected.zip -pYourPassword

As long as you guess the password correctly, it can directly help you decompress the file. You can run this command multiple times with different passwords to open password protected zip file in a loop, and you can also use bat scripts to batch test.

Method 2: Use zip + bash script (for WSL or Git Bash)
If you are using Windows Subsystem for Linux or Git Bash, you can write a simple script to crack common passwords:

bash
for p in password123 123456 welcome test123; do
unzip -P $p protected.zip -d output && echo "Password is: $p" && break
done

This method does not require third-party tools. It automatically runs a bunch of passwords through the script. It can also open password protected zip files, especially if the password is simple or you have clues.

Method 3: Customize brute force decompression script with PowerShell
You can also write a PowerShell script to batch try the password list:

powershell
Copy
Edit
$zipPath = "C:\test\protected.zip"
$passwords = Get-Content "C:\test\passwords.txt"

foreach ($pwd in $passwords) {
try {
Expand-Archive -Path $zipPath -DestinationPath "C:\test\out" -Password (ConvertTo-SecureString $pwd -AsPlainText -Force)
Write-Host "Success! Password is $pwd"
break
} catch {
continue
}
}

This method uses the system's built-in PowerShell command, which can be used with a password dictionary file to perform batch testing. It is a geeky way to open a password protected zip file.

Although these command line methods are a little more cumbersome to operate, they are a good choice for people who like to tinker and don't want to install third-party software. As long as the password is not too complicated, you can open the password protected zip file if you have a chance. It's better to give it a try than to give up~