Files

#What it is

Files (app id archive; the app was called Archiver before) is Octoolo's app for archives and locked files, like 7-Zip, WinRAR or WinZip plus a folder locker. It:

• opens ZIP, RAR, 7Z, TAR, TGZ, GZ, BZ2, XZ and ZST files, split ones and password-protected ones too, lists what is in them and extracts all or part of it;
• makes ZIP and 7Z files, with an AES-256 password if you like;
• turns RAR, 7Z and other archives into ZIP files anyone can open;
• locks files and folders with a password: each becomes one .olock file that only that password opens, and unlocks them again;
• adds an Octoolo submenu to File Explorer's right-click menu (Compress to ZIP, Extract here, Lock with a password…, Unlock… and more).

Everything runs on the PC; nothing is uploaded. Files cannot create RAR files (see "Formats it makes").

#Opening it and what it costs

• On the home screen Files is in the Utilities group. The home search finds it and its tasks by words like "unzip", "rar", "7z", "extract", "compress", "lock folder" or "password protect"; the home screen's quick action Unzip a file opens it on Unzip files.
• Addresses inside Octoolo: #/app/archive and a task, for example #/app/archive/unzip, #/app/archive/zip-files or #/app/archive/lock-folder. A shortcut can open it with Octoolo.exe --open=app/archive.
• From File Explorer: right-click a file, folder, archive or .olock file and choose Octoolo (on Windows 11 first Show more options), or double-click an .olock file. These open Files in a window of its own (see "The Files window").
• Files needs Octoolo Cloud (the subscription) or its free trial, also when it is opened from File Explorer, and also to unlock .olock files (see "Unlocking needs Octoolo Cloud: unlock before a subscription ends"). Prices, the trial and the three free apps are in Prices and limits.

#Tasks

All of these work in version 0.8.0; Files has no tasks marked Coming.

• Unzip files (unzip): open a ZIP and take out what is in it. Extract > Choose an archive…, then Extract all, or right-click the ZIP > Octoolo > Extract here.
• Zip files (zip-files): pack files and folders into one ZIP, with a password if you like. Compress > Choose files… or A folder…, format ZIP, Compress to ZIP. Or right-click > Octoolo > Compress to ZIP.
• Open RAR files (extract-rar): take out what is in a RAR file, split and locked ones too. Extract > Choose an archive….
• Open 7Z files (extract-7z): take out what is in a 7-Zip file. Extract > Choose an archive….
• Make 7Z files (make-7z): pack files into a small 7Z file, with a password if you like. Compress, format 7Z, Compress to 7Z.
• Open TAR and GZ files (extract-tar): take out what is in .tar, .tar.gz, .tgz, .gz, .bz2, .xz and .zst files. Extract > Choose an archive….
• RAR to ZIP (rar-to-zip): turn a RAR or 7Z file into a ZIP anyone can open. Open the archive, press Convert to ZIP.
• Lock a folder (lock-folder): lock a folder with a password; it becomes one file only the password opens. Lock > A folder…, type the password twice, Lock this folder.
• Lock a file (lock-file): lock files with a password: strong encryption, and a double-click to unlock them. Lock > Choose files…, Lock this file.
• Unlock files (unlock-files): open a file or folder you locked with Octoolo, with its password. Double-click the .olock file, or Unlock > Choose a locked file…, type the password, Unlock.

#The home screen: four doors

Files opens on "What do you want to do?" with four big areas ("doors"). Each is also a drop area: drop files on it ("or drop here", "Drop to start").

• Compress: "Put files and folders into one smaller ZIP or 7Z file, easy to send." Buttons Choose files… and A folder….
• Extract: "Take out what is in a ZIP, RAR, 7Z, TAR or GZ file." Button Choose an archive…. One archive opens with the Extract all dialog ready; several are each extracted straight into a folder beside them.
• Lock: "Protect files and folders with a password. Only the password opens them." Buttons Choose files… and A folder….
• Unlock: "Open a file or folder you locked with Octoolo." Button Choose a locked file….

Dropping on the page outside the doors: .olock files go to Unlock, a single archive opens, and anything else asks "What should Octoolo do with ...?" with Compress ("Into one ZIP or 7Z file"), Lock with a password ("Only the password opens them") and, when all are archives, Extract ("Each into a folder beside it").

Work going on or done (for example from File Explorer's menu) shows at the top under "Working on it" or "Done", each with Stop while it runs and × to close it; the doors follow under "Something else?". Below the doors: Recent archives (the last 12 opened, with "Moved or deleted" for ones that are gone and × "Remove from the list"), the File Explorer card ("Right-click any file or folder", with an On/Off switch) and the note "Opens ZIP, RAR, 7Z, TAR, TGZ, GZ, BZ2, XZ and ZST files, split ones too. Makes ZIP and 7Z files. RAR files cannot be made: the RAR format belongs to WinRAR. Everything stays on this computer."

#How to extract (unzip) an archive

1. In Files, use Extract > Choose an archive…, drop the archive on the Extract door, or right-click it in File Explorer > Octoolo > Open in Octoolo….
2. The archive opens and lists its folders and files. (Opened from the Extract door, the Extract all dialog opens by itself.)
3. Press Extract all, or select files and folders and press Extract selected (N).
4. The dialog says how many files and how big, and where they go ("into a new folder:" or "into this folder:"). Change… picks another folder ("Extract to").
5. Press Extract. A bar shows the progress ("Extracting <file> · 42% · 120 of 300 files · 0:35 left") with Stop. At the end: "Extracted N files to <folder>" and Show in folder.

Extract here in File Explorer's menu (and the Extract door with several archives) skips the dialog: it extracts everything straight into the folder Files proposes, keeping both copies of any file already there, and shows the result on the Files home screen.

Stopping an extraction leaves no half-written file: "Stopped. Nothing half-written was left behind." Files already finished stay in the folder.

#Where extracted files go

When no folder is chosen with Change…, Files puts what it extracts beside the archive:

• If everything in the archive is inside one top folder, that folder is extracted as it is ("Photos.zip" holding "Photos\..." gives a folder "Photos").
• If the archive holds a single file (a .gz, or a ZIP of one document), the file goes straight beside the archive.
• Otherwise a new folder named after the archive: "Holiday" for Holiday.zip, Holiday.part1.rar, Holiday.tar.gz or Holiday.7z.001.
• When that folder name is taken, it becomes "Holiday (2)", so an extraction never mixes into an existing folder by itself.

Extract selected extracts the picked files and folders into a new folder named after the archive, with their paths starting from the folder you were looking at. The files keep the dates they have in the archive.

#Files already there: Keep both, Replace or Skip

When the folder chosen for extracting already has files with the same names, the Files extract dialog says "A file by the same name is already there." (or "N files by the same names are already there.") and offers:

• Keep both (the default): the new ones get a number: "report (2).pdf".
• Replace: the files there are replaced by the ones in the archive.
• Skip: the files there stay as they are.

The result says, for example, "3 files already there kept" or "5 files saved under new names". Extract here always keeps both. A file is written under a temporary name and only renamed at the end, so a stopped or failed extraction never spoils the file it would replace.

#Browsing an archive

In Files, an open archive shows like a folder: the title bar says its format, parts, file count, size and "solid" when it is solid ("RAR in 3 parts · 1,204 files · 4.2 GB").

• Columns Name, Size, Packed, Modified; click a column to sort, again to reverse.
• Double-click a folder to go in; Up one folder (or Backspace) and the path at the top go back. An archive whose files are all in one folder opens inside that folder.
• Find in this archive searches file and folder names in the whole archive.
• Select with a click, Ctrl+click, Shift+click or the boxes; Select all in the header.
• Files locked with a password show a lock; links, unsafe names and devices show Left out (they are never written; see "Safety when extracting").
• A banner says "Some files are locked with a password. Octoolo asks for it when you extract or open them." when needed, and a ZIP's comment shows at the top.
• The bottom line: "N files, size · packed into size", and what is selected.
• Large folders show 1,500 rows, then Show all N.
• Dropping another archive on an open one opens it instead.

#Opening one file from an archive

In Files, double-click a file in an open archive, or select it and press Open ("Opens the file in the app Windows uses for it"). Files takes that one file out into %TEMP%\Octoolo\Opened\ and opens it with its usual program: "Opened <name> in its app. It is a copy: changes to it are not saved into the archive." To keep changes, save the file elsewhere from that program. These copies are deleted when Octoolo starts, once they are more than a day old.

Programs, scripts, files with macros and disk images (for example .exe, .msi, .bat, .cmd, .ps1, .vbs, .js, .lnk, .reg, .jar, .dll, .iso, .vhd, .docm, .xlsm) ask first: "Open <name>?" "This is a program, a script or a file with macros: opening it runs it. Programs inside archives are a common way for harmful software to get in. Open it only if you trust where this archive came from." with Don’t open it and Open anyway.

#Testing an archive

In Files, Test ("Unpacks everything and checks it, keeping nothing") unpacks every file and checks it against the archive's own checksums, without writing anything. A whole archive says "No errors: all N files (size) are whole."; a damaged one says which file failed (for example "The archive is damaged: report.pdf does not match its checksum.").

#Password-protected archives

Files opens password-protected ZIP (AES and the older ZipCrypto), 7Z (AES-256) and RAR archives.

• When a password is needed, Files asks: "<archive> is locked" / "Type the password it was locked with." with Unlock. It asks once per open archive.
• 7Z and RAR files whose names are hidden ask for the password before showing the list. ZIP files always show their names; the lock icon marks the files that need the password.
• A wrong password: "That password is not the right one. Check it and try again: capital letters count." For ZipCrypto ZIPs and some RAR and 7Z files a wrong password and a damaged file look the same: "That password is not the right one, or the archive is damaged."
• After Extract here of a locked archive, the result on the home screen has Type the password.

Files cannot find, guess or remove an unknown archive password.

#Split archives

Files opens archives split into parts:

• RAR parts: Name.part1.rar, Name.part2.rar... and the old Name.rar, Name.r00, Name.r01...
• Numbered parts of any archive: Name.7z.001, Name.zip.001, Name.tar.001... (up to 999), read as one file.

Opening any part opens the first. All parts must be in the same folder; if one is missing Files says "This is part of a split archive. Put <first part> in the same folder, then open it again." or "<part>, a part of this split archive, is not in the same folder. Put every part there and try again." ZIP files split as .z01, .z02... are not supported: "This is a ZIP split into .z01, .z02... parts, which Octoolo cannot open yet. 7-Zip or WinZip can join them into one ZIP."

#How to compress files into a ZIP or 7Z

1. In Files, use Compress > Choose files… or A folder…, drop files and folders on the Compress door, or right-click them in File Explorer > Octoolo > Compress….
2. The list "To compress" shows them with their sizes; Add files…, Add a folder…, Clear and × change it, and more can be dropped on it.
3. Save as: the name (suggested from the file or folder, or the folder they are in) and where (the folder the first item is in, or Change… to pick another folder, dialog "Save in").
4. Format: ZIP or 7Z. Compression: Fast, Normal or Smallest.
5. Optional: Add a password and type it twice.
6. Press Compress to ZIP or Compress to 7Z.

At the end: "ZIP file ready" (or "7Z file ready") with the name, the size before and after, "The originals are as they were.", Show in folder, Open it here and Compress something else. When the name is taken, the new file is "Photos (2).zip"; nothing is replaced. The archive is written under a temporary name and renamed at the end, so stopping leaves nothing behind.

Compress to ZIP in File Explorer's menu makes a ZIP straight away, with Normal compression and no password, beside the files: named after the file or folder, or, for several, after the folder they are in.

#Formats, compression levels and passwords when compressing

In Files' Compress page:

• ZIP: "Opens on any computer: Windows and Mac open ZIP files by themselves." Deflate at level 1 (Fast), 6 (Normal) or 9 (Smallest). Files that are already compressed (photos, videos, music, PDFs, Office files, other archives) go in as they are: packing them again only costs time. Names are stored in UTF-8; files over 4 GB are supported (ZIP64).
• 7Z: "Usually smaller than a ZIP. Opens with 7-Zip, WinRAR and Octoolo; recent Windows 11 opens it too." LZMA2 at preset 1 (Fast), 5 (Normal) or 8 (Smallest), on up to 4 processor threads (2 for Smallest, which uses about 370 MB of memory per thread), in solid blocks of up to 1 GB.
• Add a password, ZIP: "AES-256 encryption. The file names stay visible; what is in the files is locked. Windows' own File Explorer cannot open AES-locked ZIPs: whoever gets it needs 7-Zip, WinRAR, WinZip or Octoolo."
• Add a password, 7Z: "AES-256 encryption, and the file names are hidden too: without the password, nobody can see what is inside."
• Both: "Without the password, the files cannot be got back." Octoolo does not keep archive passwords anywhere.

Links and junctions inside the folders are left out (following them could loop or pack another place).

#RAR to ZIP (Convert to ZIP)

In Files, any archive that is not a ZIP (RAR, 7Z, TAR, GZ...) has a Convert to ZIP button ("Saves a ZIP with the same files beside this archive"). With the RAR to ZIP task the Extract door says "Open a RAR or 7Z file, then press Convert to ZIP." and the button is highlighted.

The ZIP is saved beside the archive under its name ("Holiday.zip", or "Holiday (2).zip" when taken): "Saved Holiday.zip (size) beside the original." The original stays. The ZIP uses Normal compression and has no password, even when the RAR or 7Z had one (Files asks for the original's password to read it). Links and unsafe names are left out; two entries with the same name become "name" and "name (2)".

#Formats it opens

Files tells the format from the file's first bytes, so a renamed archive still opens. Old ZIP and TAR names that are not UTF-8 are read in the PC's own code page, as File Explorer and 7-Zip do. Reading the list of a big .tar.gz takes a moment, because the whole file must be read; the Extract door shows "Opening <name>…" with a progress bar.

It does not open CAB, ISO, IMG, DMG, WIM, ARJ, LZH, ACE or other formats not in the table: "<name> is not an archive Octoolo can open. It opens ZIP, RAR, 7Z, TAR, GZ, BZ2, XZ and ZST files."

#Formats it makes

• ZIP and 7Z only (see "Formats, compression levels and passwords when compressing").
• RAR cannot be created: "RAR files cannot be made: the RAR format belongs to WinRAR." RAR's license allows opening RAR files, not making them.
• It cannot make TAR, TAR.GZ or other formats, split (multi-part) archives or self-extracting .exe archives.
• It cannot add files to, or delete files from, an existing archive, or change or remove an archive's password. To change an archive, extract it and compress again.

#Safety when extracting

Files protects the PC when it extracts:

• Nothing lands outside the chosen folder. Names with .. are left out; drive letters, leading slashes and \\server\share are dropped so the entry lands inside.
• No links. Symbolic links, junctions and hard links in archives are listed but never made, and Files never writes through a link or junction in the destination ("<path> is a link to another place. Octoolo does not write through links; choose another folder.").
• Names Windows can hold. Characters Windows does not allow (< > : " | ? *) become _, trailing dots and spaces go, device names such as CON or NUL get a _ in front, and names over 255 characters are shortened keeping their extension. Hidden streams (file.txt:hidden) become plain names.
• Never half a file. Each file is written under a temporary name and renamed when whole.
• Disk space. Before extracting, Files checks the disk has room for everything plus 256 MB ("This needs 3.2 GB and the disk has 1.1 GB free." and Extract is greyed). While extracting, it stops if the disk gets within 256 MB of full: "The disk is nearly full, so Octoolo stopped with 240 MB left. Free some space or choose another drive."
• Archives made to fill a disk. An archive that unpacks to more than 1 GB and at least 100 times its own size warns: "This archive unpacks to 50 GB, 1000 times its own size. Archives like that are sometimes made to fill a disk: go ahead only if you expected it." The box I expected that: extract it (or Extract in "Extract it anyway?" for Extract here) goes ahead. A file that unpacks to more than the archive says it holds is stopped: "The archive is damaged: <name> unpacks to more than the archive says it holds."
• The download mark is kept. When the archive came from the internet (it has Windows' Mark of the Web), every extracted file gets the same mark, as File Explorer does, so Windows still warns before running a program from it.
• Nothing runs by itself. Programs and macro files open only when you ask and say yes.

#Lock a file or folder with a password

1. In Files, use Lock > Choose files… or A folder…, drop them on the Lock door, or right-click them in File Explorer > Octoolo > Lock with a password….
2. Under Choose a password, type the password; a meter rates it (Very easy to guess, Easy to guess, Fair, Strong, Very strong). Type it again ("Type it again"); "The two passwords are not the same." shows until they match.
3. Optional: A hint, if you like (up to 120 characters): "Shown when you unlock. Anyone can read it, so never write the password itself." A hint equal to the password is refused.
4. Read the warning: "Keep the password safe. If it is forgotten, nobody can open what you lock: not you, not Octoolo. Write it down, or keep it in Passwords."
5. Press Lock this folder, Lock this file or Lock N items.

Each item becomes its own locked file in the same folder: "Trip photos" becomes "Trip photos.olock", "Taxes 2025.pdf" becomes "Taxes 2025.pdf.olock" ("(2)" is added if that name is taken). Progress shows "Locking ..." then "Checking ...". At the end: "Locked" with Show in folder and Lock something else, and "To open one again, double-click it, or choose Unlock in Files." Weak passwords are allowed; the meter only advises.

Unlocking later also needs Octoolo Cloud (or its trial), like all of Files: unlock what you still need before a subscription or trial ends.

Locking does not compress: a locked file is about the size of what it holds. While File Explorer's right-click menu is on, .olock files show the Octoolo icon and the type "Locked with Octoolo" in File Explorer.

#What happens to the original when locking

In Files, locking is done so that nothing is lost:

1. The files are opened so that no other program can change or delete them meanwhile; a file open in another program stops the lock before anything changes.
2. Files checks there is room for the locked file plus 256 MB ("Locking <name> needs 2.1 GB free on this disk, and it has 1.0 GB.").
3. The locked file is written under a hidden temporary name.
4. It is read back and fully decrypted, and what comes out is compared (SHA-256) with what went in. If it differs: "The locked file did not read back the same, so nothing was changed. Try again, or lock it onto another disk."
5. Only then is it given its .olock name and the original files and folders are deleted.

The originals are deleted the normal way: they do not go to the Recycle Bin, and Octoolo does not overwrite (shred) them. If an original could not be deleted (open in another program meanwhile), the result says "Locked, but this was open in another program and could not be removed. Close it and delete it yourself:" with the paths; the locked file holds it all the same.

Stop while locking: "Stopped. Nothing was locked, and the originals are as they were." That is true for the item being locked when Stop was pressed. When several items were being locked, the ones finished before Stop are already locked (their .olock files are there and their originals are gone), although the message does not say so: unlock them as usual.

#Folders and files that cannot be locked

Files refuses to lock:

• A whole drive: "D:\ is a whole drive. Lock the folders on it instead."
• Anything in Windows' or programs' folders (Windows, Program Files, ProgramData, AppData, which includes the Temp folder): "<name> is in a folder Windows or your programs need, so Octoolo does not lock it."
• Your own special folders themselves (your user folder, Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Pictures, Music, Videos, Favorites, Contacts, Links, Saved Games, Searches, OneDrive and the Public folders), and folders that contain them (such as C:\Users): "<name> is one of Windows' own folders, so Octoolo does not lock it whole. Lock the folders and files inside it instead." What is inside them (Documents\Taxes, a file on the Desktop) can be locked.
• A file already locked: "<name> is locked already."
• A link, or a folder with links or junctions inside: "<path> is a link to another place. Lock the place it points to instead." / "<folder> has a link to another place inside (<path>). Octoolo cannot lock a folder with links in it."
• A folder inside another folder being locked in the same go: "<path> is inside another folder you are locking. Lock just the outer folder."

#How strong the lock is

A Files .olock file is encrypted with XChaCha20-Poly1305 (in 1 MiB authenticated segments, the last one marked, so a file cut short or changed does not open). The key is made from the password with Argon2id (64 MiB of memory, 3 passes, 4 lanes, a new random salt each time), which takes about half a second on purpose and makes guessing passwords slow. The names, sizes and contents of everything inside are encrypted. Without the password only the hint, the locked file's own name (the original name plus .olock, which can be renamed) and its size can be seen.

Only Octoolo opens .olock files; other programs cannot. They can be copied, moved, renamed, backed up or sent like any file, and unlocked on any PC with Octoolo. Uninstalling Octoolo leaves them where they are; they open again once Octoolo is installed again. A file locked by a newer Octoolo says "This file was locked by a newer Octoolo. Update Octoolo to unlock it."

#Unlocking needs Octoolo Cloud: unlock before a subscription ends

Files is a paid app: locking and unlocking .olock files needs Octoolo Cloud (the subscription) or its free trial, also when the .olock file is double-clicked in File Explorer. Files is not one of the free apps (they are listed in Prices and limits).

• When the trial or subscription ends (or Octoolo could not check it for too long offline), Files shows the paywall ("Your Octoolo Cloud has ended") and .olock files cannot be unlocked on that PC until Octoolo Cloud is on again (see License and account).
• Nothing is lost: the .olock files stay as they are, and they unlock with their password once Octoolo Cloud is on again, on that PC or another one.
• Anyone who plans to cancel, or whose trial is ending, should unlock the files and folders they still need first (or keep unlocked copies of them). Support should say this whenever someone asks about cancelling and has used Lock.

#A forgotten lock password cannot be recovered

If the password of a Files .olock file is forgotten, nobody can open it: not the person, not Octoolo's team, not anyone else. Octoolo never stores or sends lock passwords, and there is no master key, reset or backdoor.

What the person can still do:

• Read the hint: it shows in Unlock when the file is chosen ("Hint").
• Try the passwords they usually use, minding capital letters and keyboard layout.
• Check the Passwords app or wherever they write passwords down.
• If a copy of the original exists elsewhere (a backup, cloud storage, an email), use that.

#Unlock a file or folder

1. Double-click the .olock file in File Explorer (or right-click > Octoolo > Unlock…), or in Files use Unlock > Choose a locked file…, or drop it on the Unlock door.
2. The Unlock page shows the file (its size and date) and its Hint.
3. Type the password. To keep the .olock file as well, tick Keep the locked file too first.
4. Press Unlock (or Enter).

The file or folder comes back beside the locked file, under its original name (even if the .olock file was renamed), with its files' dates; "(2)" is added when that name is taken. A folder comes back hidden until every part has checked out, then shows. The locked file is then deleted, unless Keep the locked file too was ticked ("The locked files are still there too."). At the end: "Unlocked" with Show in folder, Unlock another… and "It is back where the locked file was."

Several locked files can be unlocked together with one password; the ones that password does not open are listed under "Not unlocked:" ("<name>: this password does not open it.").

Messages:

• Wrong password: "That password does not open it. Check it and try again: capital letters count." (Octoolo tells a wrong password from a damaged file.)
• Damaged or changed file: "The archive is damaged: part of it was changed or is missing." (other endings: "it ends too soon.", "its settings are out of range."). Nothing comes out of a damaged locked file; get the .olock from a backup.
• Not a locked file: "This is not a file locked with Octoolo." / "Those are not locked files. A locked file's name ends in .olock."
• Not enough room: "Unlocking <name> needs 2.1 GB free on this disk, and it has 1.0 GB."
• "The locked file could not be removed, so it is still there:" when the .olock could not be deleted afterwards.

#File Explorer right-click menu

The installed Octoolo adds an Octoolo submenu (with Octoolo's icon) to File Explorer's right-click menu, in the language Octoolo uses:

• Compress to ZIP and Extract here start at once and show their progress and result in the Files window. Compress…, Lock with a password…, Unlock… and Open in Octoolo… open the matching page.
• Several selected items become one request: one ZIP of all of them, one Lock page with all of them, each archive extracted.
• Double-clicking an .olock file opens Unlock.
• Archives list Octoolo under Open with; Octoolo never becomes the default program for archives, and what opens them by double-click stays as it is.

Windows 11 shows the Octoolo submenu under Show more options (or Shift+F10), not in the first, short menu: that menu only lists apps installed as signed Store-style packages. Windows 10 shows it directly.

The menu is written for the current Windows user only (no administrator rights, nothing loaded into File Explorer) and refreshed each time Octoolo starts. Uninstalling Octoolo removes it, the double-click on .olock files and the Open with entries.

#Turning the right-click menu off

Two switches do the same thing:

• Settings > File Explorer > Octoolo in the right-click menu of files and folders.
• On the Files home screen, the card "Right-click any file or folder" > On/Off.

Off removes the submenu, the double-click on .olock files and Open with for archives; it stays off after restarts until turned on again. With the menu off, .olock files can still be unlocked from Unlock in Files. "The menu comes with the installed Octoolo." shows in a copy that cannot add it. If Windows refuses the change: "Windows did not let Octoolo change File Explorer's menu: ...".

#The Files window

Requests from File Explorer open in a window of their own, titled "Octoolo Files" (920×660), so whatever is open in Octoolo's main window stays as it is. If Octoolo was not running, only the Files window opens. The window opens on the Files home screen, where the request's work or page shows; from there all of Files can be used. Locking, compressing and extracting started there keep their progress in that window.

#Keyboard shortcuts

#Where it keeps things

• Recent archives (up to 12): %LOCALAPPDATA%\com.octoolo.app\recent-archives.json.
• The right-click menu switch: %LOCALAPPDATA%\com.octoolo.app\explorer-menu ("off" when off).
• Files opened from archives: %TEMP%\Octoolo\Opened\, deleted when Octoolo starts once more than a day old.
• The right-click menu: keys under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes.
• Extracted files, new archives and .olock files go where described above, never into Octoolo's own folders. Passwords are never saved.
• Uninstalling keeps %LOCALAPPDATA%\com.octoolo.app unless "Delete the application data" is ticked; locked files are never touched.

#Downloads it needs

None. RAR support (UnRAR) and everything else Files uses is inside Octoolo.

#Privacy

Nothing Files handles leaves the PC: archives are read, extracted, made, locked and unlocked on the PC. Archive and lock passwords stay in memory only while the archive is open or the work runs, and are never saved. Files reads only what the person dropped, picked, opened before or chose in a dialog, and writes only beside those or in a folder the person chose. Octoolo's usage statistics never include file names (see Privacy and data).

#Troubleshooting

#There is no Octoolo in the right-click menu

On Windows 11 choose Show more options first (or press Shift+F10). Check that the menu is on: Settings > File Explorer, or the Files home card. The menu is added by the installed Octoolo when it starts: start Octoolo once after installing. Archives get Extract here only for the extensions in the table above.

#"<name> is not an archive Octoolo can open."

The file is not ZIP, RAR, 7Z, TAR, GZ, BZ2, XZ or ZST (by its content, whatever its extension), or it is badly damaged. CAB, ISO, DMG and other formats are not supported. A file that is still downloading is not an archive yet: wait for the download to finish.

#"The archive is damaged: ..."

Part of the archive is wrong or missing, often because the download did not finish ("it ends before <name> does (it may not have downloaded completely)."). Download it again. Test checks a whole archive. Files cannot repair archives.

#"That password is not the right one."

Check capital letters and the keyboard layout. "That password is not the right one, or the archive is damaged." means Files cannot tell the two apart for this archive; try the password again, and if it is surely right, the archive is damaged.

#"... is packed with a method Octoolo cannot unpack" or "... uses something Octoolo cannot read yet"

The archive uses a compression method Files does not have (for example a method from a newer or unusual archiver). Extract it with the program that made it, or ask the sender for a plain ZIP. Similar, for 7Z files: "This 7Z file is version x.y, which Octoolo cannot read yet." and "... needs more memory to unpack than Octoolo allows."

#A split archive does not open

Put all parts in the same folder, with their original names, and open any part. RAR parts must follow the .part1.rar/.part2.rar or .rar/.r00 pattern; numbered parts must be .001, .002... ZIPs split into .z01 parts cannot be opened.

#"This needs ... and the disk has ... free." or "The disk is nearly full ..."

The destination drive does not have room for the extracted files plus 256 MB. Choose a folder on another drive with Change…, or make room on the drive.

#"<path> is a link to another place. Octoolo does not write through links; choose another folder."

The chosen destination contains a symbolic link or junction where the archive's folders would go. Choose another folder with Change….

#"A file named <x> is where a folder should go, in <folder>."

The destination has a file with the same name as a folder in the archive. Extract to another folder.

#Extracted files are named "report (2).pdf"

Files with those names were already in the folder, and Keep both was chosen (the default, and always for Extract here). Choose Replace or Skip in the extract dialog instead.

#Some entries are "Left out"

The archive holds links, names pointing outside the folder (..) or devices. Files never writes those, for safety. Everything else is extracted.

#Windows cannot open the ZIP I made with a password

A ZIP with Add a password uses AES-256, which Windows' own File Explorer cannot open. The receiver needs 7-Zip, WinRAR, WinZip or Octoolo, or send it without a password.

#Can I make a RAR file?

No. Files cannot create RAR files: the RAR format belongs to WinRAR. Make a ZIP (opens anywhere) or a 7Z (usually smaller) instead.

#Lock says "... is in a folder Windows or your programs need" or "is one of Windows' own folders"

Files never locks system and program folders (including everything in AppData and the Temp folder), and never locks your Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Pictures, Music or Videos folders themselves. Move the files to an ordinary folder first, or lock the folders and files inside your Documents or Desktop instead of the whole folder.

#Lock says the file is open in another program

"<name> is open in another program. Close it there and try again." or "Windows did not let Octoolo use <name>. It may be open in another program, or the folder is protected." Close the file in the program using it (and pause sync apps if needed), then lock again. Nothing was changed.

#I forgot the password of a locked file or folder

It cannot be recovered by anyone, including Octoolo. See "A forgotten lock password cannot be recovered" for what can still be tried.

#My subscription ended and I cannot unlock my .olock files

Files, including Unlock, needs Octoolo Cloud or its trial. With it ended, Files shows "Your Octoolo Cloud has ended" instead of the Unlock page. The locked files are safe and unchanged: turn Octoolo Cloud on again (subscribe, or enter the license key if the subscription is still running), then unlock them with their password. See License and account.

#Double-clicking an .olock file does nothing or opens something else

The right-click menu (which includes the double-click) may be turned off: turn it on in Settings > File Explorer, or unlock from Unlock in Files. If another program was chosen to open .olock files, choose Octoolo again in Windows' Open with.

#After unlocking, the folder is not there at first

An unlocked folder stays hidden until every part has been checked, then appears. If unlocking failed, nothing is left behind and the .olock file is still there.

#Limits and what it cannot do

• It cannot create RAR files (the RAR format belongs to WinRAR), nor TAR/GZ, split or self-extracting archives.
• It cannot open CAB, ISO, IMG, DMG, WIM, ARJ, LZH, ACE or .z01-split ZIP files.
• It cannot add files to, or remove files from, an existing archive, or change or remove an archive's password.
• It cannot repair damaged archives, or find a forgotten archive password.
• Locked files (.olock) open only in Octoolo, and unlocking needs Octoolo Cloud (or the trial) like the rest of Files. A forgotten lock password cannot be recovered by anyone.
• Lock does not hide the locked file itself, does not lock system, program or AppData folders, your Desktop/Documents/Downloads/Pictures/Music/Videos folders as a whole, or whole drives, and cannot lock folders that contain links or junctions.
• Lock does not compress, and does not shred the originals: they are deleted the normal way.
• Lock keeps file contents, names, folders, modified dates and the read-only flag; other file attributes, permissions and the Mark of the Web are not kept.
• Opening a file from an archive opens a copy: changes are not saved back into the archive.
• On Windows 11 the right-click menu is under Show more options, not the first menu.