How to split a large file using 7-Zip

October 12th, 2008

Introduction

Suppose that you want to attach a file on an e-mail message but the file is too large for sending through your mail server. Or you want to copy a file to USB drive but the file size is exceed the limit of your USB drive can hold.

To solve these problems, you can split the large file into smaller files using Zip software. So, you can attach these smaller files to e-mail messages or copy to your USB drive as you want. To get the original file back, you can open these smaller files using any Zip software and you’ll get the original file.

In this post, I’ll show how to split a large file into smaller files using 7-Zip. 7-Zip is an open source software which can compressed/uncompressed file in various formats. Other Zip softwares such as WinZip, WinRar, etc. can do this, too. The steps are similar to 7-Zip.

Step-by-step

Download and install 7-Zip on the PC.
In this example, I’ll split Book.pdf (~30 MB.) into smaller Zip files which the file size must not exceed 10 MB.
Right-click on the file -> Select 7-Zip -> Add to archive.
On Add to Archive,
- Name the archive file.
- Select archive format.
- Define file size limit you want. In this example, I’ll limit to 10MB.
- Click OK.
The program is compressing the file.
When finishes, you’ll see that a large file is split into new smaller Zip files which size are limit as you defined. In this example, I get 3 file: Book.zip.001, Book.zip.002 and Book.zip.003.
To get the original file from these Zip files, right-click one of these Zip files -> select 7-Zip -> click Open archive.
Note: You can open these Zip files with other Zip software since they are .zip file now.
The 7-Zip program will be opened and you’ll see the original file.