As time moves on, the size of software and files found on your computer gets bigger. A photo will have more pixels in it and be larger, video files are now being distributed in 4K which means bigger file sizes than before. The same applies to games, some can now be as much as a 200GB download on platforms such as Steam. Applications are also growing, the latest Microsoft Office installation is now much bigger than it used to be.
As everything grows in size, it becomes more of a problem when you are trying to move or copy the files to a more restricted medium. For instance, you might be trying to send a video file via email which has an attachment size limit. Or you could be trying to backup or copy large files, such as ISO images, onto optical media or flash drives. If the file is too big for the space limit you have available, it needs to be split into separate parts.
Since the split files will be created in the same folder your original file is in, I recommend creating a new folder and putting the file you are splitting in it. Splitting a File: Right click the file you want to split, then roll your mouse over the 7-Zip, then click Add to archive. In my tests I am splitting a testfile.exe that is 625MB. Thankfully, the clever little ZIP utility has a handy function that can split our archive into smaller chunks for later re-assembly. Here’s how it works: zip -r -s 200M archive.zip myfiles/. This will create an archive of all files and subfolders in myfiles, creating a new file every 200MiB (about 10% more than 200MB).
Splitting files into smaller parts that can then be joined together again, later on, is done all the time on the internet. It’s also quite common to split a large file when you have to fit it onto several CDs, DVDs, or even floppies. Curiously Windows itself has the capacity to join already split files, but can’t split the file in the first place. For that you need a third party method, here are 8 ways for you to do it. All methods were tested on Windows 7 and 10.
1. Fastest File Splitter and Joiner (FFSJ)
FFSJ is small, efficient, and easy to use and comes as either a Lite or Standard version. Lite is a portable executable while the Standard installer version includes the context menu option that can split and join by right click. FFSJ also has a command line interface so files can be split and joined from batch scripts or the Command Prompt.
Splitting a file is easy and you only need to drop a file onto the window or manually locate it, choose a different output directory if required, and set the split method. The file can be split according to a specific number of parts or a specific size. The Encrypt data option is useful as only those that know the password can rejoin the files (you must rejoin the files with FFSJ).
For joining files you only have to drag and drop or locate the first file in the set and supply a save to directory. A password will be required if you encrypted the files. The MD5 Checksum tab allows you to get the checksum of the file before splitting, then a joined file can be verified to see if its checksum matches.
Splits (archives created as a set of split files): -s ssize create split archive with splits of size ssize, where ssize nm n number and m multiplier (kmgt, default m), 100k - 100 kB -sp pause after each split closed to allow changing disks WARNING: Archives created with -sp use data descriptors and should work with most unzips but may not work with some -sb ring bell when pause -sv be verbose about creating splits Split archives CANNOT be updated, but see -out and Copy Mode below.
2. KFK
KFK is by KC Softwares who also make other well known tools like the software update monitor Sumo. In addition to splitting and joining files, KFK also has an option to burn the files to disc (if you have the shareware VSO CopytoDVD software) and also offers disk spanning by splitting a file over multiple floppy disks.
Mac Split Zip Into Multiple Files Into One
It’s possible to drop a file onto the KFK window or you can browse for one manually. For splitting, you can choose either to set a specific number of parts or a specific size of each part. The “Generate automatic rebuild file” checkbox creates a batch file with the files so you can join them together without using KFK.
Make sure to download the Lite or portable version of KFK. In the past, KC softwares have bundled adware with their installers. At the time of writing, they appear to be adware free but be aware when downloading.
3. GSplit 3
GSplit is definitely the program with the most advanced options here. Not only can it automatically span a file across several removable devices (floppies, USB flash drives, etc), GSplit can also create custom tags for the files and a custom self uniting program. There’s even a batch option where a number of files can be split one after the other (using the Several Files button).
There are four standard split methods; by numbers of files, by the size of each file, entering the size of each file individually, or even splitting a text file by line. The self uniting function (SFU) adds an executable to the files so they can be joined without GSplit.
The SFU file can be customized with your own messages, a picture, a chosen destination folder, run a program after splitting and auto start/end. The Express button is a faster way to quickly split a file from a single window. Both installer and portable versions of GSplit 3 are available.
4. Puran Splitter
Splitter is also part of the Puran Utilities tweaking software but this is the standalone version. It’s unfortunate that the program has to be installed but you can easily copy the folder from Program Files and then uninstall to create a portable version. Delete the file “Default.cjstyles” from the program folder if you prefer not to have the light blue theme.
Splitting a file is self explanatory and you simply drop or browse for the file to split, browse for an output folder, set the size of each file, and press the button. Sizes are in Kilobytes or Megabytes so multiply Megabytes by 1024 to use Gigabytes.
A useful feature is the option to either create a batch file to rejoin the files back together or create an executable. Either option works without the need for Puran Splitter. The batch join option uses the Windows Copy command which is useful to get around any restrictions that don’t allow an unknown executable to run on the computer.
5. Split Files Using an Archiving Program (PeaZip)
One of the most known methods of splitting files into multiple parts is by using a file archiver. Most archiving software has the ability to create a multi part Zip or 7z archive. We’re looking at PeaZip because it can actually split files by creating a multi part archive or using the standard method of splitting the file like the tools above. PeaZip is also a very good general archiver with a portable version if you would rather not install it.
To create a multi part archive, press Add, and drop the file onto the window. Choose where to save the split files, and in the dropdown boxes select Self-extracting 7Z, and Store. Select the split file size from one of the presets or choose Custom and enter a specific size in KB, MB, or GB.
With the self extracting 7Z you can join the files back together without an archiver installed. If that’s not required, use the 7Z or Zip methods instead. To create a standard split file, choose Split in the top drop down and pick the split size in the bottom drop down and start the process.
An alternative split window is in Tools > PeaUtils although here the output path is locked to the same as the input file. The PeaUtils window is also where you can join split parts together again. Click the drop down and select Join spanned file, then locate the first file in the set (.001) or drop it onto the window.
Zip Split Linux
PeaUtils is a standalone program that doesn’t require PeaZip to work. Therefore, you can use split, join, or any other options available in the drop down without using or installing PeaZip.
Download PeaZip | Download PeaUtils
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8 Ways to Split or Break GIF Animation Into Individual Frames6 Ways To Combine or Merge Multiple Text Files4 Tools To Manage Files Using Drag And Drop Targets6 Ways to Play Downloaded RAR Video Files Without Unpacking8 Ways To Remove Duplicate Lines in Text FilesFreecommander XE still has the feature to split and combine files, just not with the icon like in your screenshot. Just select a file, and in the File menu choose “Split…”, or use the shortcut Ctrl+Shift+I.
ReplySplit and combine were added to XE in build 770 released in 2018 (excluding beta or donor versions), about a year after we wrote the article. The options had not been implemented in the free version up until that point.
ReplyGreat little program. Easy to use and when I tested it on XP 64 to create a 2 part self extracting exe from a 4.5 GB video file, it was much faster than 7zip.
ReplyWhere’s 7zip & winrar ?
ReplyRead the article and you’ll see why…
Reply” Fastest File Splitter and Joiner (FFSJ)”
Hi there,
I tried to download the above splitter but saw that it’s non active.
Georgios
ReplyThank you, the link has been updated.
ReplyLeave a Reply
Split a file into pieces.
Read the given file (or standard input if no file is specified) and break it up into files of 1000 lines each.
If additional arguments are specified, the first is used as the name of the input file which is to be split.
If a second additional argument is specified, it is used as a prefix for the names of the files into which the file is split. In this case, each file into which the file is split is named by the prefix followed by a lexically ordered suffix in the range of `aa-zz'. If the name argument is not specified, the file is split into lexically ordered files named in the range of `xaa-zzz'.
For historical reasons, if you specify name, split can only create 676 separate files. The default naming convention allows 2028 separate files.
Examples
Split up the file demo.zip into multiple 100 MB files:
$ split -b 100m demo.zip
The output files will be named with 3 letters starting xaa, xab, … to reassemble them, cat the files in alphabetical order:
$ cat `ls x*` > demo2.zip
“Silence, that frail partition between the ill-concealed and the ill-revealed. . . ” ~ Samuel Beckett
Related macOS commands:
cut - Divide a file into several parts.
fmt - Reformat paragraph text.
fold - Wrap input lines to fit in specified width.
head - Output the first part of file(s).
join - Join lines on a common field.
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