# Trouble decompressing file
**URL:** https://forum.ipums.org/t/trouble-decompressing-file/3397
**Category:** CPS
**Created:** [March 3, 2020, 5:10pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/trouble-decompressing-file/3397 "2020-03-03T17:10:55Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Alan\_Perez](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Alan_Perez)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2020, 5:10pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/trouble-decompressing-file/3397/1 "2020-03-03T17:10:55Z")
Hello,
I am having trouble unzipping my data extract. I downloaded CPS data over several years. When I try decompressing the file in both Mac and Windows, I get an “unexpected end of file” error. Any idea about why this might be? Could the file be too large? Thank you.
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### Author:  [@KariWilliams](https://forum.ipums.org/u/KariWilliams)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2020, 7:01pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/trouble-decompressing-file/3397/2 "2020-03-03T19:01:00Z")
IPUMS is looking into an issue on our end that seems to be producing faulty gzip files. I will let you know when we have learned more about the issue and resolved it.
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### Author:  [@KariWilliams](https://forum.ipums.org/u/KariWilliams)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2020, 10:19pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/trouble-decompressing-file/3397/3 "2020-03-03T22:19:20Z")
Our IT group has identified the issue and implemented a fix for this problem. You should be able to simply re-download your requested data file; you do NOT need to resubmit your extract. Please let us know if you experience any further issues.
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### Author:  [@Dave\_Graham-Squire](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Dave_Graham-Squire)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2020, 7:47pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/trouble-decompressing-file/3397/4 "2020-03-18T19:47:20Z")
Hi Alan, Kari,
I hope you’re both well in health and spirit these days.
I’m seeing the same issue with ACS extracts. I’ve tried a number of times, even with minimal files of just a handful of variables and get the “unexpected end of file” error too. I’ve tried decompressing under both Windows and Linux.
Alan: did you find this resolved on your end?
Kari: could this stilll be an issue for the ACS extracts?
Thanks so much for your help!
Dave
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### Author:  [@Dave\_Graham-Squire](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Dave_Graham-Squire)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2020, 4:35am UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/trouble-decompressing-file/3397/5 "2020-03-20T04:35:47Z")
I was trying to download the compressed data to a remote server that I’m accessing from my Windows machine via samba. This thread describes the problem:
[https://sourceforge.net/p/sevenzip/discussion/45797/thread/6358ccaa/](https://sourceforge.net/p/sevenzip/discussion/45797/thread/6358ccaa/)
Once I downloaded directly to my windows machine I didn’t have a problem.
Apologies for any time spent addressing this. Many thanks, Dave
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### Author:  [@Kathryn\_Abendroth](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Kathryn_Abendroth)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2020, 4:17pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/trouble-decompressing-file/3397/6 "2020-05-19T16:17:58Z")
Hi Kari,
Is there a chance that this error cropped back up again? I have tried downloading my .dat file a couple of times and every time I try to unpack it I get Error 79 on my mac. I also tried unpacking it in the terminal and was unsuccessful there as well. It’s a small extract, so I don’t think it’s a file size issue. Just trying to figure out what end this problem is originating from!
Thank you,
Kate
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### Author:  [@KariWilliams](https://forum.ipums.org/u/KariWilliams)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2020, 3:19pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/trouble-decompressing-file/3397/7 "2020-05-20T15:19:21Z")
I was unable to replicate this issue with your data extract. I was able to decompress the file and read it into Stata. If you are still not able to decompress the files, please email [ipums@umn.edu](mailto:ipums@umn.edu) so we can provide more targeted help.
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### Author:  [@KariWilliams](https://forum.ipums.org/u/KariWilliams)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2022, 1:23pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/trouble-decompressing-file/3397/8 "2022-10-11T13:23:07Z")
I am following up on this post to note that we also generally encourage users to try [The Unarchiver](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiD_ejPrsz6AhVuIDQIHaD2DooQFnoECAsQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheunarchiver.com%2F&usg=AOvVaw2RjPrCrnW79HFxOU8dqiXa) for decompressing data files; occasionally the .gz extension poses a unique issue for Mac users.
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### Author:  [@Xiaoxuan\_Sha](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Xiaoxuan_Sha)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2023, 4:52pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/trouble-decompressing-file/3397/9 "2023-01-12T16:52:38Z")
Hello Karl, I use the unarchiver and the file still won’t open. I am not sure which step went wrong, what shall I do? Thank you so much for your help!
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### Author:  [@KariWilliams](https://forum.ipums.org/u/KariWilliams)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2023, 10:41pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/trouble-decompressing-file/3397/10 "2023-01-12T22:41:27Z")
I am just following up to indicate that I think this question was resolved in [another post](https://forum.ipums.org/t/cannot-extract-dta-gz-file/1234/6).