View RAR and Zip File Contents in Google Docs

Zip and RAR files are notorious for hiding viruses. For an anti-virus program to scan compressed files, it must first unpack them, which often means downloading the file to your hard drive before scanning it.
With the recent addition of Zip and RAR support in Google Docs, Chrome users no longer need to download a Zip file to see its contents. To add this functionality to your Chrome browser, all you need is a small extension from the Chrome Web Store.

From the Open Zip and RAR with GDocs page in the Chrome Web Store, click Add to Chrome.

A popup will appear asking if you want to install the extension. Click Install.

For best results, exit your Chrome browser and restart it. Some users complain that this extension does not play nice with other extensions directly after installation, but restarting the browser after installation fixes the problem.
Now, find a Zip file online somewhere, like in your Gmail. Right-click the file name and choose Open with Google Docs.

The contents of the Zip file displays as a list in Google Docs. Click any file, then choose to either download it or save it to Google Docs. You can also save the entire contents to Google Docs by clicking the Save in Google Docs button at the top right of the window.

This is one of the most useful extensions so far for the Chrome browser. Avid Google Docs users will appreciate the ease of sending files straight to Google Docs from a Zip file, but even those of us who prefer our traditional word processors can see the value of this extension. In our test, we had no extension conflicts whatsoever, and were impressed by the simplicity of opening a zip file with a simple right-click.