You might have tried extracting your important files from zip archive and ended up with an error unable to find Central Directory or End-of-central-directory signature not found. If you are wondering how to resolve the zip file error and get your Zip files back, here is the best fix to resolve any Zip file error without causing harm to the files present on it.
Central Directory contains a list of all the files present in a ZIP file along with their location (path). This central directory is used to quickly extract one file from an archive or to get a file listing without reading the whole ZIP.
If these information mismatches, you might get encounter issues like not a valid archive, signature not found errors while opening the Zip file.
Typically, there are various causes responsible for the discrepancy between local directory and central directory data.
All the above reasons lead to the inconsistencies in Zip header files. Incorrect archive data and wrong extensions makes extracting files from corrupt 7z files is hard. When the access for extracting the same Zip files is asked, the Zip file extractor considers as the security risks and reports the file is corrupt or damages resulting to End-of-central-directory Signature not found error.
Here is some basic fix that you can try to fix the Zip files central directory not found.
1. First, you can redownload the Zip file and check if the error still exists while extracting the file from Zip archive. If the downloading is interrupted and you are unable to redownload the Zip file, you may consider that your Zip file is severely corrupted. In such situations, You can either try a manual method using WinZip app to fix the error or the most trusted and safe SFWare Zip File Repair Tool.
2. If your Zip file is stored in removable storage disk, any physical damage, corruption, logical errors or virus present on the drive may affect the saved ZIP file too. You can run Anti-virus software to keep the drive clean and secure. If you happened to lose data while due to virus or severe corruption, you can always rely on the most reliable SFWare Data Recovery Tool.
If you fail to fix the Zip file error using above mentioned method, the file is severely corrupted. SFWare Repair Zip file is the tool with a robust inbuilt repair algorithm not only fixes Zip file Central directory not found error but could also fix broken, corrupt, damaged ZIP file and makes it accessible again. The tool works on the copy of the files; therefore, the original file is unaltered. Download the software now and try it for free..
To fix corruption on Zip file related to central directory, Download and Install SFWare ZIP File Repair Software. Launch the software.
Step 1: On the main screen, Browse corrupted ZIP file --> Repair
The process initiates to repair the file.
Step 2: once the file is repaired, you can preview the repair Zip file.
Step 3: Finally, Save the healthy ZIP file to a new location
1. With the SFWare ZIP File Repair software, you can easily fix ZIP file cannot find central directory error, caused due to damage or corruption.
2. This ZIP file repair application is an easy and quick solution for repairing Zip archive which is either corrupted or damaged. This program has inbuilt repair algorithm that can fix broken ZIP file issues and makes it accessible again.
3. You can employ this program to easily rebuild ZIP files that are broken or damaged ZIP/ZIPX archives which are not extracting or shows error.
4. In addition, this utility can fix encrypted, password protected archives which are inaccessible due to any reason.
5. You can run this powerful utility on all versions of Windows system to attain fast and trouble-free fixation of ZIP file showing Zip File Cannot Find Central Directory error.
Tips to keep files protected