Change default compress option in Nautilus type to zip?

Question

On the right click menu (in Nautilus, desktop, etc), there is a "compress" option. Is there any way to make "zip" the default format for this?

Solution

After some investigating, it appears that this is controlled by a gconf setting. To set zip as the default compression method, hit Alt+F2 to launch the 'Run Application' window. Type 'gconf-editor' in the box and hit the 'Run' button. This can be seen in the screenshot below.

Once you hit the 'Run' button, a window like the one below will appear. This is the Configuration Editor.

The compression feature of nautilus really uses file-roller. To get to the file-roller settings, start by expanding the 'apps' folder.

Next, find and expand the 'file-roller' folder.

Expand the 'dialogs' folder.

Select the 'batch-add' folder.

You should now see an item with the name of 'default_extension' in the section on the right. You will want to click on the 'Value' field and change whatever was previously there to '.zip'.

Now, if you close the configuration editor and open nautilus, .zip should be the default compression method.

Comments

[Colin Pickard]

I'm looking to make .zip the default in the dropdown if possible

[Alfredo Hernández]

It's rare, ZIP is installed by default. I know RAR is not installed in a fresh installation, but ZIP is. Try to search for «zip» in Software Center.

[Colin Pickard]

ZIP is available to select, but it is not the default. The default is .tar.gz. I'd like .zip to be the default, to help a user to ensure they are creating a compatible archive.

[Alfredo Hernández]

Well, in *NIX is very used .tar.gz, I see normal to set it as the default. To sum up, .tar.gz is free, .zip is not free in all cases -though the package used in GNU/Linux (Ubuntu in this case) is free-.

[Colin Pickard]

Is there any way I can change the default for this one computer? The user has to submit coursework in .zip archives due to university rules.

[Alfredo Hernández]

I don't know why it must be the default format. If you compress a file and select ZIP it will be the selected one every time you compress any other file. If they wanna be sure they are selecting ZIP as compressing format they can select it and then check the file name, it will be «file.zip». The "default" format is only applicable for first time, when you change it, it is the new "default".

[Colin Pickard]

fantastic answer, thank you. I shall try this out as soon as I get back to the machine.