Many of us prefer not only to watch movies, read text, listen to music on the Internet. I would also like to download this to my computer or laptop. But where to find downloaded files can be somewhat difficult in some cases.

Although many are gradually abandoning this idea, realizing that any information can be found again and again on the Internet. But, firstly, the Internet is not yet available everywhere. Secondly, Internet access is not always cheap or free. Thirdly, you just want to have your favorite files on your PC or laptop. I want it, and that’s it.

Therefore, the task of downloading is relevant. It seems like it was downloaded, but where did it all go, where can I find the downloaded files? The problem has arisen.

Let's look at 3 (three) ways to find downloaded files from the Internet on your computer:

1. using Explorer, which is available on computers with the Windows operating system,
2. via "Search"
3. using the "Downloads" folder that is found in every browser.

Let's start searching for files using Explorer. This method is suitable for those who have the Windows operating system installed on their computer.

1 Explorer for searching files downloaded from the Internet

Open Explorer. In Windows 7, File Explorer is located next to the button:

Rice. 1. Downloaded files from the Internet are located in the “Downloads” folder in Explorer

There is a “Downloads” folder in Explorer (1 in Fig. 1). If you click on it, then in this you can see downloaded files from the Internet.

2 “Search” line to search for the downloaded file

On a computer, the “Search” line can be found, for example, in Windows 7 in the “Start” menu.

Rice. 2. “Search” line to find the downloaded file

1 in Fig. 2 – click “Start”.
2 in Fig. 2 – in the “Search” line you need to enter the name of the file downloaded from the Internet.
3 in Fig. 2 – file search results.

If the file name in “Search” is entered more or less reliably, then it is very likely that the file will be found as a result of the search.

There is no doubt: searching for a file by its name is a convenient service on your computer. But who remembers the name of a file once downloaded on the Internet?

I will take the liberty of saying that most users do not remember it. In addition, files downloaded from the Internet may have strange names that are impossible not only to remember, but even to understand, some kind of gobbledygook. Therefore, we move on to the next method of searching for a file on your computer downloaded from the Internet.

3 “Downloads” folder in different browsers and how to change it

A browser is usually used to access the Internet. Using a browser, users access social networks and visit various sites. Therefore, files from the Internet (pictures, songs, videos, etc.) are most often downloaded through a browser. The browser has a “Downloads” folder in which you can find downloaded files from the Internet.

Below we will look at how to find the “Downloads” folder in the Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Yandex Browser, Internet Explorer browsers, as well as how to change the standard download folder for downloaded files to a convenient folder.

So, we will look for downloaded files in the browser, in the “Downloads” folder. To do this, you usually need to go to the menu of any browser and find the “Downloads” option there.

1 in Fig. 3 – in the Google Chrome browser, in the upper right corner, click on the “Customize and manage Google Chrome” menu button.
2 in Fig. 3 – a menu will open in which you need to click on the “Downloads” option.

Rice. 3. Downloads folder in Google Chrome browser

By clicking on the “Downloads” option, we will see the downloaded files.

How to delete download history in Google Chrome?

To delete something unnecessary, just click on the cross next to the irrelevant file:

Rice. 4. Downloaded files in the “Downloads” folder in Google Chrome

In the browser settings there is a “Personal Data” tab, and in it there is a “Clear history” button. This way you can quickly delete the history of downloaded files over a period of time:

• in the past hour,
• for yesterday
• over the past week,
• for the last 4 weeks, for all time.

This deletes the list of files downloaded using Google Chrome. The files themselves remain on the computer.

How to change the Downloads folder in Google Chrome

By default, in the Google Chrome browser, files are saved in the following folders:

• Windows Vista/Windows 7/Windows 8: \Users\<имя_пользователя>\Downloads
• Windows XP: \Documents and Settings\<имя_пользователя>\My Documents\Downloads
• Mac OS: /Users/<имя_пользователя>/Downloads
• Linux: /home/<имя пользователя>/Downloads

To change the Downloads folder, open the Google Chrome settings (3 in Fig. 3). At the end of the settings page, click on the “Show additional settings” button and in the additional settings we find the “Downloaded files” option (1 in Fig. 5).

Rice. 5. You can change the location of downloaded files in Google Chrome

If you click on the “Change” button (2 in Fig. 5), the “Browse Folders” will open. In this review you can

• use the slider (3 in Fig. 5) to find the desired download folder,
• or create a new download folder (4 in Fig. 5).

After selecting a new download folder, do not forget to click on “OK”.

Screenshots are shown for the Google Chrome 55.0.2883.87 browser.

• To do this, in the “Downloads” folder, you need to right-click on the file icon (but not the link). Or, on the touch screen, hold your finger on the file icon a little longer. A context menu for the file should appear that contains a list of all valid actions for that file.
• From this menu, you should click the “Save As” option (for example, maybe “Save Picture As”).
• The “Save As” window will open, in which you need to find a folder to save the file from the downloads in another location. Instead of a folder, you can select Desktop. Although you need to understand that cluttering the desktop on your computer with files downloaded from the Internet is not a good idea.
• Once you have decided on the save location, you can change or leave the file name the same.
• Now that the file storage location (folder) and file name have been determined, click the “Save” button in the “Save As” window.
• You can make sure that the file is saved in a place where it can be easily found later. To do this, find the file in a new location. You can check that it opens and everything is OK with it.
• You can now remove the duplicate of this file from your Downloads folder.

Where are the downloads in Yandex Browser?

Yandex Browser has the same engine as the Google Chrome browser, so the settings of these browsers have a lot in common.

In Yandex Browser, in the upper right corner, click on the “Yandex Browser Settings” menu (1 in Fig. 6), and in the menu that appears, click on the “Downloads” option.

Rice. 6. Downloads in Yandex.Browser

Open “Downloads” and see the downloaded files. Move the mouse cursor to the downloaded file and click on button 1 in Fig. 7, or you can right-click (right mouse button) on the file. A list of operations that can be applied to the downloaded file will appear. For example, you can delete the file (2 in Fig. 7).

Rice. 7. What can you do with downloaded files in Yandex Browser

Screenshots are shown for Yandex browser version 17.1.0.2034.

How to change the Downloads folder in Yandex Browser

To change the standard Downloads folder in Yandex Browser to another folder, you need to open “Settings” (3 in Fig. 6).

Then on the settings page, click “Show additional settings” and there find the “Downloaded files” option, which has the same as for the Google Chrome browser (Fig. 5).

Opposite the “Downloaded files” option, click on the “Change” button and select the appropriate folder to save the downloaded files.

Downloads folder in Mozilla

Rice. 8. Downloads in Mozilla

The Mozilla Downloads folder looks like a down arrow (1 in Fig. 8). You can click on this arrow and a drop-down menu will appear.

2 in Fig. 8 – By clicking the “Show all downloads” option, we will see all the downloaded files in the Mozilla browser.

To change the default Downloads folder in Mozilla to a different folder,

click “Open menu” (1 in Fig. 9),
then “Settings”, the “Basic” window will open.

You can click on the “Browse” button (2 in Fig. 9) and select another folder so that the downloaded files are saved in it:

Rice. 9. Change the “Downloads” folder for downloaded files in Mozilla

Screenshots are for Mozilla browser version 50.1.

Downloads folder in Opera

Rice. 10. “Downloads” folder in the Opera browser

To find downloaded files in Opera:

1 in Fig. 10 – click “Menu” in the upper left corner of the Opera browser,
2 in Fig. 10 – open “Downloads”.

How to change the download folder in Opera

To change the download folder for downloaded files from the Internet, click “Settings” (3 in Fig. 10). Then in the “Downloads” tab, opposite “Download folder”, click on the “Change” button and select another folder to upload the downloaded files.

Screenshots for Opera browser version 42.0.2393.137.

Where are the downloads in Internet Explorer?

Rice. 11. Downloads in Internet Explorer browser

To find downloaded files in Internet Explorer:

1 in Fig. 11 – click on “Service” in the top menu,
2 in Fig. 11 – click “View downloads”.

Screenshots for Internet Explorer browser version 11.0.9600

What can you do with the files in your Downloads folder?

Video version of the article “Where to find downloaded files from the Internet on your computer”

Our computers store a huge amount of information in the form of movies, music and documents. Sometimes, having forgotten where a particular document is saved, it is quite difficult to find it. There are various ways to quickly search for documents. Perhaps the simplest is to search for a document by date. Let's look in more detail at how to find documents by date on a computer.

It's very easy to do this:

1. To do this, you need to open the “My Computer” folder. In the left column, select the local drive where you think the document is located. If you don't know which local drive you need, it's best to stay in the My Computer folder.
2. Using the left mouse button, you need to open the search window, which is located in the upper right corner of the explorer. In the window that opens, you need to find the inscription “Add a search filter.”
3. After that, click on the change date and in the calendar that appears, select the specific date when the document was created and changed. If you don't remember the exact date, you can select a date range from the list provided. You can also specify your calendar range - to do this, select the first date and hold down the Shift key to select the last date.
4. As a result, the computer will produce several documents that satisfy the search, among which you will find the desired document.

In the same way, you can find a document by its size by selecting the appropriate search type in the same window. It's quite simple.

Also, documents can be found not only by date, but also in other ways, according to other parameters. To do this, you can use a simple function that any operating system has. To do this, click the “Start” button; in the window that opens, a search field will appear at the very bottom. There you need to enter the name of the document and click on “Ok”. In this case, it is not necessary to enter the full name; you can enter only a word or several letters in a row in the title of the document.

If you absolutely do not remember the name of the document, you can enter the following: *doc. After this, launch the search program. The computer will give you several documents, among which you will definitely find the document you need.

Also, if the document you need was saved not so long ago, you can use another search method. You need to click the “Start” button and go to recent documents. After that, enter the name of the document and open your Word program. After that, at the very top you will find the “File” section, you need to go there and select “Open”. In the window that appears, you will need to select a place to search; you can select recent documents. After this, the computer will display the documents that were most recently saved.

Thus, finding a document on a computer is quite simple, you just need to know a few ways to do this.

When you use a computer for a long time, a huge amount of information can accumulate on it over time (we are talking about Windows) - various programs, files. It is not always possible to remember what is where, and for beginners it is also sometimes difficult to find the programs they need. In order not to manually climb through folders in search of the desired file or not to search for the necessary Windows programs and tools through a special control panel, you can use the built-in search and quickly find the information or program you need. In this article, I will show you how to search for the information and programs you need on computers with the Windows operating system installed (using Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10 as an example).

In the article, I consider the 3 above systems as examples, since they are by far the most common. For example, Windows XP and Windows Vista have long been outdated and are used by a minimal percentage of users.

Search in Windows 7

In Windows 7, search is located in the Start menu and in all Explorer windows.
Let's first consider the most accessible search, which is the fastest to open - search in the Start menu. It's located at the very bottom of this menu:

Right there you just need to type the name of the desired file or program in whole or in part (just the beginning, for example) and Windows will try to find what you are looking for.

Example of program search

Let's say you want to find and run the Windows Uninstall Tool. In Windows 7 it is called "Add or Remove Programs".

To find this tool, in the search you just need to type “programs” (1) and after a few seconds a list will appear where you can already see the tool we need (2):

All you have to do is click on the search result and the desired program will open.
Also in this window you can see the “Programs and Features” and “Uninstall a Program” tools. It's all the same.

Example of searching for a file or folder with files

Let’s assume that on my “C:” drive in the “Documents” library there is a file with a work report called “Report for 2015”.

To find this file through the search, just type part of the name, for example “report” or “report”, and Windows will try to find everything that is with that name on your computer.

For example, I typed the query “otch” (1) into the search and my file (2) was found.

In Windows 7, you can quickly open the search tool using the keyboard shortcut: Win+F.

Search in Windows 8 and Windows 10

In Windows 8 and Windows 10, searching for information is no different in principle from what it was in Windows 7. The only difference is in the interface of the operating systems, since in new Windows it is quite different.

How to open and use search in Windows 8

Let's look at the search capabilities using Windows 8 as an example. There is also a search through the Start menu. The search button in this menu is located at the top right (magnifying glass icon).

Before searching for something, you can select a search area, namely, search in parameters, files, pictures or videos from the Internet, and also everywhere at once. To select an area, click the default area (1) and select the desired one from the list (2). If you don’t know where to look, put “Everywhere”, you will find most of everything.

For example, I want to find and open the Windows Control Panel. I selected the “Everywhere” area and entered “Control Panel”. The results appear below. What was found in Windows will be displayed in the very first options (1)?, before the line. After the dash there are options for searching via the Internet (3).

If you click on the search button (4) with a magnifying glass icon, a more detailed list of results will open, including search results for Internet sites.

Another option to open the search: while on your desktop, move your mouse cursor to the lower right corner and hold for a couple of seconds.

A panel will appear on the right, where you will see a search button at the top:

Everything works exactly the same. Let’s say you have a file somewhere on your computer called “List of Workers.” Having selected the search area (in the example “Everywhere” was selected), I enter part of the name, for example “list” (1). The results appear below, among which will be the file you are looking for (2), which can be immediately opened from this list.

In Windows 8, you can quickly open the search tool using the keyboard shortcut: Win + F.

How to open and use search in Windows 10

In Windows 10, search is located on the Windows taskbar by default:

Clicking this button will open a search window. In the bottom line (1) we indicate the search query. Let's say I want to find and open the Windows tool for removing programs from my computer, so I enter the "uninstall" part of the query (1) into the search bar. Search results will appear above, among which I see the one that suits me “Add or remove programs” (2).

You can select a search area by clicking on the default area:

From the list that opens, you can select a specific area of ​​Windows to search, for example, search by photos, programs, documents, etc. If you want to search in all areas at once, select “All”.

Another search example. Suppose there is a “My Database” file somewhere on your computer. I enter part of the name into the search, for example “Base” (1) and in the results I get what I need (2).

In Windows 10, you can quickly open the search tool using the keyboard shortcut: Win + S.

Search through "Explorer" in Windows 7, 8, 10

It happens that there is no point in searching for a file throughout the computer, so as not to waste extra time, because searching for a file throughout the computer can take a long time, depending on the amount of information on the computer, and especially since you know approximately in which folder or on which This file can be located on your local disk. To do this, it’s easier to use a search in a separate folder or local drive, i.e. through the Windows Explorer program. Let's look at an example based on Windows 7.

In Windows 8 and 10, searching through Explorer is absolutely no different!

Search in Explorer is located at the top right (1). When you open a folder, the search bar will indicate where the search will be performed (where you are now). For example, now I have the “Program Files” (2) folder open.

Let's say I want to find the "Drivers" folder in the "Program Files" folder where I am now. To do this, in the search at the top right (1) I write “drivers” or you can enter the first few letters (in case you don’t remember the full name). The results will appear below (2).

All that remains is to open the desired file, folder or program directly from the search results!

It can also sometimes be useful to use a filter when searching, for example, to search for files, folders and programs by a certain size or modification date. When you enter the name of what you are looking for, the filter modes will appear below:

Let's look at another example...

Somewhere on my “C:” drive I have a file for work called “Publish on the site.” Knowing that the file is located on the “C:” drive, I need to open Windows Explorer, and then this local drive in it. In the search, I type the beginning of the file name “published” (1) and the system finds the file I need (2), indicating below its location on the computer.

Tip for finding files. When searching for files in Windows, you can search by file extensions. For example, if you want to find all files with the extension .txt, then type *.txt in the search. Where * will mean that files with any names will be searched, but with the extension .txt.

Conclusion

Use Windows Search to quickly open programs and files that you have located somewhere deep in Explorer. This way you will save time. And of course, you shouldn’t try to search for the required file or folder manually all over your computer for a long time, since first of all you should use a regular search.

Have a nice day and good mood! ;)

The Windows operating system has a built-in and quite effective function for this. Located at: Start -> Search

You can also launch the file search window from any directory window, for example, my computer, by clicking on the “Search” button:

The following window will open:

Here we can select the file type, be it text documents or multimedia files. When you click on the desired one, a window for selecting additional parameters will appear. For example, let’s choose to search for multimedia files (images, music, videos):

By checking the box next to the required type and clicking the “Find” button. Let's take video as an example, all video files on your computer will be found. It’s very convenient when you finally decide to clean up your hard drive and want all the movies, clips, etc. place it in one place so as not to waste time constantly searching for them or when you remember for sure that you have this file somewhere, but where can you find it?! This is where this function will help you. You can also search for all video files on your computer by opening additional search options in the line “Part of the name or the entire file name”:

write the types of video files separated by commas in this form: *.avi, *.mp4, *.3gp, *.flv, *.swf, *.mpeg, *.mov. These are the most common video file extensions. In this case, all files with this extension will be found. But in this case, you may miss some files by not specifying the appropriate extension.

In addition, you can specify additional parameters such as file size, the date the file was last modified, whether or not to search in hidden/system folders and files, search path, you can search throughout the entire computer or by selecting any drive or directory.

Home → Programs for experienced → Computer “simply about complex things”

In the last lesson, we looked at why archiving is needed and what it is. But all this was mere theory without clear examples, let's move on to practice. Archives are contained in files with the rar extension. What program is needed to open rar files? There are many archiver programs. The most popular of them is WinRAR.

In general, the program is paid, but as usual, you can find everything on the Internet, including the free version. Type “winrar” into your favorite search engine and one of the first links will contain the latest version.

After installing the program, you can proceed directly to archiving or reading the archives themselves. Remember that an archive is a file and has its own extension, usually .rar or .zip. Both of these formats are used for Windows operating systems, however, the .zip format is universal and will be correctly recognized on other systems, for example, MacOs. The archive icon looks like this:

You can see for yourself the power of this program and its ability to significantly compress files. Let's check how much the file will weigh before and after archiving. Right-click on the file -> properties and the file size will be displayed in the window that appears.

There is another option: select the necessary files and the characteristics will be listed at the bottom of the window:

Add files to the archive, select it and look at the weight:

How to use WinRAR: creating an archive

The first thing we need to do is select the files that we will merge. In the picture below you can see that the files can be of any format, including photographs and subtitle files and folders with another stack of files or even another archive.

After that, right-click on one of the selected elements and a window that is already familiar to us will appear, where we previously selected the “Copy” and “Paste” items, but.. What is this? After installing WinRar, new items appeared, and they are what we need! Select “Add to archive” to create it

After this, a window will open with numerous settings, of which only two are required for everyday work:

1. Changing the name of the archive (by default, the archive is named by the name of the folder in which it is located)
2. Archive format - for Winwows .rar, universal.zip

How to unpack an archive (extract files)

If you open an archive with pictures and try to flip from one to another, as you usually do in folders, you will notice that this is impossible, you need to open each element separately. Moreover, due to the fact that the data is compressed, the program has to restore any file each time, which is why they take longer to open than usual. Of course, this is extremely inconvenient for the data that you use constantly, so it makes sense to first transfer all the contents to a regular folder. To do this, you need to unpack the archive - return the compressed content to its normal form.

To do this, right-click on the archive and select one of three options:

1. Extract files - this item will open a window in which there will be settings for selecting the unpacking folder. Convenient when you need to save files to a different location than where the archive is located.
2. Extract to current folder - all files, as they are, are extracted to the folder where the archive itself is located. This is convenient if the archive is initially located in the place where you need to place the files.
3. Extract to *archive name*\ - first, in the folder where the archive is located, another one is created with the name of this archive and all files are extracted there. This is extremely useful when the archive contains a lot of unstructured files without folders, for example, an entire music album without the name of this album.

Using archiving programs makes it easier to work with files, send them, and compactly store them.

What is an archive

Let's look at a real-life situation. We have some things that we won't need anytime soon and are just taking up space. What do we do in such a situation? That's right, we put them somewhere, for example on the mezzanine. If we need them, we can always get them.

You may also have some files on your computer that are unnecessary in the foreseeable future and only clutter up your computer’s hard drive. A bunch of books you’ve read, movies you’ve watched, old work reports, and so on that you don’t want to delete. The solution is simple, create something like a virtual closet. Select these files and create an archive of files from them.

An archive is a kind of dimensionless container in which you can store any number of files and folders of any type, including other archives. The result is one large archive containing the archived files. By the way, you can store other archive files inside the archive, a sort of closet in a closet.

What are the advantages of this approach?

Firstly, ease of orientation in the structure. By leaving only the files that are really necessary for work, we make it easier for ourselves to find the necessary information among the remaining ones.

Secondly, it saves space. Due to the use of special algorithms during archiving, the size of the resulting archive can be much less than the sum of the weight of all the files included in it. This is the case when 2+2 does not equal 4. In other words, we save disk space.

Thirdly, the reliability of information storage. When creating a file archive, you can add special information to restore the archive and specify a password to restrict access. If a single file is damaged by a virus, due to technical problems in the computer, or for any other reason, it will be very difficult to open it. By adding recovery information to the archive, we can with a high probability restore the information in the archive. Having an access password ensures the privacy of stored information. Using the right algorithms and a strong password, no one will be able to view this archive without your permission.

Fourthly, you cannot transfer folders via the Internet (you can via FTP), only files. Many services limit the types of files you can upload. The optimal solution in these cases would be a file archive. It can store just one file or a folder with a bunch of subfolders and files if you need to transfer many files. The use of archives to exchange information on the Internet is a de facto standard.

Disadvantages of using archives.

The advantages of the archive also have a downside. Archives are not suitable for frequently used files. It takes time and disk space for archiving and unzipping operations, this becomes especially critical with a weak computer and a large archive size. A weak computer can work on an archive weighing several gigabytes for several hours.

How to distinguish an archive from other files?

Special icons are used for archives; they can look different, but are usually stylized to resemble a stack of books. The most common archive file extensions are: .rar, .zip, .cab, .arj, .lzh, .ace, .7-zip, .tar, .gzip and some others. Self-extracting archives have the extension “.exe”.

Detailed information can be obtained by right-clicking on the archive file and selecting “Properties”.

The creation and processing of archives is carried out by special computer programs called archivers. One of the most popular archiver programs is WinRar.

So we figured out what an archive is and why it is needed.

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Working with the WinRAR archiver

Have you encountered a problem with archive files? Rather yes than no. Do you know why an archiver is needed, except that it is not very convenient to constantly unpack files and then search for them throughout the computer. This article will focus on the topic of data archiving and the main programs that work with archives.

First, let's figure out what the archive is for. First of all, for safety. The main archives have a system for recognizing and protecting against malware. This increases the reliability of files. Archiving programs are also equipped with an encryption system. You can set a password and no one will be able to view the contents of the archive without knowing the password. And finally, thirdly, archivers significantly compress the physical size of files. Which in turn allows you to save space on your computer’s hard drive or on removable media. Isn't it a convenient thing? If you learn to skillfully use archivers, they will be indispensable in many things and will bring great benefits.

Let's consider one of the most popular programs for working with WinRAR archives. This program is very popular and is an essential tool for PC users. Most software downloaded from the Internet or on a software disk tends to be archived, the reasons are already clear to you.

The most popular archive file extensions are .rar and .zip. If you come across a file with the following names after the dot, you should know that you should work with these files using the WinRAR program.

WinRAR is much easier to find than many other programs. This software is found exclusively on all program collection discs. Also, when installing computer games or third-party software, the installation window prompts you to install additional programs for correct operation. Among which is WinRAR.

Let's consider searching and installing WinRAR using the Internet.

1 step. First, open an Internet browser and write the query WinRAR in the search bar. Open the official website of the program. Let's look at the picture:

I want to warn you right away that the official WinRAR program is a paid software. But at the same time, the free version with all its functionality has access for 40 days from the date of installation. On the official website you can familiarize yourself with all the features of the program.

Step 2. Click the DOWNLOAD tab, select the program language, operating system bit depth and proceed to download. Let's look at the picture:

Step 3. Program installation. We look for the installation file, run it, select the installation path, in our case the default. Let's look at the picture:

Step 4 Configuring program installation. This includes choosing extensions for working with the program. And standard settings for accessing the program. It is also important to check the boxes for integration with the OS shell. In the future, this function will be useful when extracting and archiving directly from the context menu. (right mouse button). This completes the WinRAR installation process. Let's look at the picture:

Working with the archive.

Let's look at the process of extracting the archive:

1 step. Double-click on any archive file. In the WinRAR program window that appears, click on the EXTRACT button. Let's look at the picture:

Step 2. Select the location where the selected files will be extracted. You can also create your own folder or the program will create a default folder on its own and click OK. Let's look at the picture:

There is a shortcut. Right-click on the archive. Select the item “Extract to...” here you need to specify the path yourself and “Extract to the specified folder”, in which case the files will be copied to the folder where the archive itself is located. Example: if the archive is on the desktop, then all files will be extracted to the desktop.

Let's look at the archiving process:

1 step. Open the WinRAR program. Select the location where the archive will be located in the main viewing window. Click on the ADD button.

Step 2. In the parameters, in the General tab, we specify the archive name and extension format, leaving the rest as default. Let's look at the picture: