LINKUNZIP
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Install LinkUnzip in two steps

Add the browser extension, then the small helper program it needs. No administrator rights and no account.

Requirements

  • Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit). macOS and Linux are planned.
  • Chrome 116 or newer, Edge, Brave or Chromium.
  • Free space for the files you extract. The zip itself is never saved.

1. Add the extension

Add LinkUnzip from your browser's store. Edge, Brave and Chromium can use the Chrome Web Store too (in Edge, click Allow extensions from other stores when it asks).

Add to Chrome

2. Install the helper

After you add the extension, a Set up LinkUnzip page opens by itself:

  1. Click Download linkunzip-setup.exe.
  2. Click Open the installer, then Install.
  3. The page turns green as soon as the helper answers. That's it.

You can also download the installer yourself from the latest release on GitHub, where SHA256SUMS.txt lets you check it.

The installer:

  • installs for your Windows user only, without administrator rights, into %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\LinkUnzip;
  • registers the helper with Chrome, Edge, Brave and Chromium;
  • appears in Settings > Apps > Installed apps;
  • updates the helper in place when you run a newer one.

Why is there a helper program?

A browser extension can't write thousands of files into a folder of your choice, or keep a multi-gigabyte download going on its own. A small program on your PC can. The extension talks to it through the browser's native messaging. The helper only runs while you use LinkUnzip and closes 30 seconds after the last activity. It connects only to the server of the link you chose.

Windows warns about the installer. Is that normal?

Yes, for now. The installer is not code-signed yet, so SmartScreen may say Windows protected your PC or Unknown publisher, and the browser may say the file isn't commonly downloaded. To run it, click More info, then Run anyway.

Signed installers are planned. Even signed, a new installer can trigger SmartScreen until enough people have downloaded it.

Check that your copy is the published one

Compare the installer's SHA-256 with the one in SHA256SUMS.txt on the release page. In PowerShell:

Get-FileHash .\linkunzip-setup.exe -Algorithm SHA256

The two values must be identical.

Updating

The extension updates through your browser's store. When it needs a newer helper, it tells you and keeps working with the one you have in the meantime; run the new installer and it updates in place.

Uninstalling

  1. Remove the extension: open chrome://extensions (or edge://extensions), then Remove on LinkUnzip.
  2. Remove the helper: Settings > Apps > Installed apps > LinkUnzip > Uninstall.

Files you extracted stay where you put them.

Silent install for scripts

linkunzip-setup.exe /VERYSILENT /SUPPRESSMSGBOXES

To register the helper without the installer, use linkunzip host install; see the command line page.

Stop saving zips you only unpack once.

Free for Chrome, Edge and Brave on Windows 10 and 11. No account, no ads, no uploads.

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