How to recover the lost ZIP file password

We always compress files to a ZIP archive for sharing them. It makes people download your files faster. Besides, you won't run across any compatibility issues when sending files in ZIP format over the internet. If your file contains sensitive information, it is necessary to set a password on the file when you put it to the archive. This is an effective way to improve security. When the file is encrypted, people have to enter the password to access it. But there is a possibility that you lose the password added to the file. You forget the password because it is too complicated. Your former colleague changed your password and left the company without telling you the new password. Or you can't find the notepad file where you store the password. Losing the password means you are unable to open the file compressed to the ZIP archive. It could be a disaster when your file is needed on an urgent basis. Trying the possible password combinations by yourself probably becomes in vain. If you get stuck on the problem of unlocking your ZIP file, please continue reading this post. In this post, I will share two methods on how to recover a lost ZIP password.

Method 1. Recover the lost ZIP password using Online Hash Crack

Online Hash Crack is a very powerful online ZIP password recovery tool. If you want to decrypt the ZIP file but don't want to install any software, give Online Hash Crack a shot. Online Hash Crack supports over 90 hash algorithms and provides three cloud-based password recovery services to crack the password.

Basic attack recovery: After your file is uploaded to the server, Online Hash Crack will use basic attack recovery, which searches your password from a wordlist of 20 million most common passwords. This password recovery service doesn't cost you a cent. The maximum time you will wait for the result is 48 hours.

Brute force attack recovery: If you want to shorten the time you will wait for the result, try brute force attack recovery. It is a paid service, which charges $7 per hour. The estimated duration of the recovery process is less than 1 hour. Brute force attack recovery allows you to provide some clues about the password. You can self-define the max and min length of the password and select the charsets. The charsets you can choose include digits, capital letters or small letters, and symbols.

Wordlist attack recovery: If your password is not found with basic attack recovery, you will get the option to use wordlist attack recovery. It costs $7 per hour and takes less than 1 hour to finish the recovery process. Wordlist attack recovery enables you to choose a wordlist and ruleset.

The supported ZIP encryptions of Online Hash Crack are AE-256 and ZipCrypto. As for the max file upload size, you can upload an up to 100MB ZIP file to the cloud server. By the way, as a versatile file password cracker, Online Hash Crack also works with 7-zip, RAR, PDF, and Microsoft office file types (Word, Excel, PPT).

Follow steps below to use Online Hash Crack to crack the ZIP password.

• Head over to the homepage of Online Hash Crack.
• Go to the right section "WPA/Office/iTunes/Archive/PDF. Click on "Browse" to upload your encrypted ZIP file.
• Enter a valid email address and press the "SUBMIT" button.
• Basic attack recovery begins as soon as the file is uploaded.
• Wait for the completion of basic attack recovery or initiate brute force attack recovery. When basic attack recovery fails to find your password, select wordlist attack recovery.

• When your password is recovered, you will be notified by email.

Method 2. Recover the lost ZIP password using Zip Password Recover

Do you have concerns about privacy and security when using online ZIP password recovery services? If so, I recommend using a desktop software tool named Zip Password Recover.

Zip Password Recover is a piece of professional ZIP password recovery software with an easy-to-use interface and intuitive options. You can try it free for 7 days. If you like the app after trial, pay $19.95 to get a lifetime license. Using Zip Password Recover, you can apply one of three given attacks to fast break a ZIP file password. Each attack is designed for a specific situation.

Dictionary Attack: Dictionary attack uses an in-built text dictionary to detect your password. As long as your password is included in the dictionary file, it will be found super fast. You are allowed to build your own dictionary. It is worthy of mention that you will receive a full dictionary of 3GB from the software provider after purchasing the software.

Mask Attack: This attack dramatically speeds up the recovery if you provide some details about the password to the program. The program searches the specified password combinations according to your instructions. You can set the initial length of the password. You also can set the max and min length of the password as the password sweep direction. The charset types you can choose include numbers, letters in upper or lower case, symbols, and space.

Brute Attack: If you can't recall anything about your password, brute attack comes in handy. It attempts all possible combinations until the password is found. Although it takes longer than the other attacks to recover the password, the multi-core and multi-threading tech assures you the time will be considerably reduced.

Apart from these three attacks, Zip Password Recover also provides users with other two facilities. Password storage backs up the recovered password in a text file. String case changing lets the program scan the letters in the dictionary in uppercase, lowercase or title case. Another nifty feature of Zip Password Recover is that you can pause the recovery process and resume it from the same point of progress. On the whole, Zip Password is a user-friendly and cost-effective software product to retrieve your ZIP password. It can be easily mastered by all types of users.

• Click on "Add File" to import your ZIP file into the program.
• Press the "Options" button to open the "Options" panel. You can tweak options here according to your needs.

• Select one attack that fits you and configure settings if needed.

• Press "Start" to start recovering the lost password.
• When the password is found, it will show up at the bottom of the main window.

For security reasons, you need to encrypt the file in the ZIP archive. This keeps your crucial data in the file safe from spies. But password protection causes you trouble once you lose the password. I hope two methods in this post truly help you get back your password to unlock the ZIP file. If someday you discover some other methods, send me an email to let me know.