Replacing files in a *.zip file without unzipping (extracting) in Powershell

Question

Hi everyone!

Currently, I am trying to create a script in Powershell that will replace/delete files in a *.zip file without extracting it.

I know it is possible to do manually by using applications like 7Zip and WinRAR or by simply opening a zip archive in Folder Explorer, but I am looking for a way to automate this action.

I am new to powershell and to programming in general, so I cannot come up with any preliminary code. I tried to search for answers on the net, but failed to find anything that would work for me.

So the question is:
Lets say we have a zip archive called Photos (Photos.zip). The archive contains 5 images. How do I replace/delete images in Photos.zip without extracting it in Powershell?

Any code/ideas/links to helpful resources would be highly appreciated.

It's complicated. Use ZipArchive class or IO.Packaging.ZipPackage manually, see [How to create a zip archive with PowerShell?](https://stackoverflow.com/q/1153126) and [Is there a way of manipulating zip file contents in memory with Powershell?](https://stackoverflow.com/a/25154506) — wOxxOm, Sep 10 '16 at 11:59

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 15 '16 at 20:51

I used the following solution.

First I moved old files from the archive to a temporary folder by using this code:

#Path to the temporary folder
$pathToTemporaryFolder = "C:\...\Temporary"
#Path to a file that will be moved from the archive to the temporary folder
$pathToFileToBeMoved = "C:\...\Photos.zip\My Photos\My Image.png"
(New-Object -COM Shell.Application).NameSpace("$pathToTemporaryFolder").MoveHere("$pathToFileToBeMoved")

Then, I copied some new files to the archive:

#Path to the folder with a new file
$pathToFolderWithNewFile = "C:\...\New Images\My New Image.jpeg"
#Path to a folder in the archive where the new file will be copied to
$pathToFolderInArchive = "C:\...\Photos.zip\My Photos"
(New-Object -COM Shell.Application).NameSpace("$pathToFolderInArchive").CopyHere("$pathToFolderWithNewFile")

Finally I deleted the temporary folder

Remove-Item -Path "C:\...\Temporary" -Recurse

This is how I deleted files from the archive and copied new files to it without unzipping/extracting.

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 11 '23 at 04:46

This is quite easy using the PSCompression module (Disclaimer: I'm the maintainer of the Module).

Removing Entries from a Zip Archive. Remove -WhatIf once you're sure the cmdlet will do what you're expecting.

# -Include patterns are tested against the entries relative path
Get-ZipEntry 'C:\...\Photos.zip' -Include '*/My Photos/My Image.png' |
    Remove-ZipEntry -WhatIf

Adding a new archive entry to the Zip Archive:

$newZipEntrySplat = @{
    EntryPath   = '/My Photos/My New Image.jpeg'
    Destination = 'C:\...\Photos.zip'
    SourcePath  = 'C:\...\New Images\My New Image.jpeg'
}

New-ZipEntry @newZipEntrySplat

If you're looking to try it out, the Module is available through the PowerShell Gallery:

Install-Module PSCompression -Scope CurrentUser

Replacing files in a *.zip file without unzipping (extracting) in Powershell

2 Answers2