how to open .ods zip file which save as .cpgz file extension

Question

how to open .ods zip file which save as .cpgz file extension

I try to open an Open Office spread sheet and it simply saves the file as another file with the .cpgz extension which does the same thing. This did not happen a couple weeks ago; I think my download for Apple updates may be the culprit. My OS X is now 10.7.3, I believe originally it was 10.7.2 but I could be wrong.

The original document is a zip archive but now "saves as" a .cpgz archive. I have tried the "Unarchiver", which I just downloaded, but it only creates another file with subfolders, none of which appear to have my original spread sheet. (To be honest, I never noticed this Open Office spread sheet file was a zip file until a few minutes ago when I tried to unsuccessfully open it).

I see this problem has become more common recently so I hope someone has a simple answer. Thanks much.

Mac mini, Mac OS X (10.7.2)

Posted on Apr 10, 2012 7:30 AM

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Answer 1

Jan 22, 2017 7:52 PM in response to RobinFlys

Thanks for this! Just to add - dragging into the Google Sheets didn't work for me, but when I emailed the file to myself at an old gmail account, then opening the email on the gmail website, I could then open the ods file in sheets.

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Answer 2

Jan 23, 2017 3:50 AM in response to Tiberius Spock

Newer Office style files are actually compressed with ZIP, this applies to .docx, .pages and .ods.

If you don't have a program installed on your Mac which already understands .docx, or .pages or .ods then the Mac may get confused and try to process them as a standard ZIP file - which they are not.

In the case of .ods whilst Office for Windows supports this format Microsoft have wilfully chosen not to enable Office for Mac to use the same files. For .ods your best options are either Libre Office which you can install on your Mac or to use Google Docs via a web-browser to open and convert these files to real Microsoft Office format.

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Answer 3

Sekou42

Level 1

13 points

Jan 4, 2018 9:37 AM in response to John Lockwood

Thanks, this worked for me!

1. Open Google Docs in a browser window.

2. Click "Open a file" (The file folder icon)

3. Click "Upload"

4. Drag the attachment to the window and, TA-DA!!!

5. (optional) If you want to save the file to your Mac, email the file from Google Docs to yourself as an attachment in the appropriate format (you can choose .pdf, .xlsx, .docx etc.) Save the attachment and you are all set.

Thanks to all who contributed to this thread. PROBLEM SOLVED!

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Answer 4

BDAqua

Level 10

239,213 points

Apr 10, 2012 12:54 PM in response to Tiberius Spock

Weird the Unarchiver didn't work, might try this in Terminal...

unzip

followed by a space, then in the finder drag that somefile.cpgz to the terminal window, hit return.

Are there any strange characters in the name of it?

Might try Stuffit Expander also.

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Answer 5

Apr 11, 2012 10:05 AM in response to Tiberius Spock

Tryed to unzip it in terminal as you described but no luck. No strange characters, either.

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Answer 6

BDAqua

Level 10

239,213 points

Apr 11, 2012 12:49 PM in response to Tiberius Spock

Did you try...

http://www.stuffit.com/mac-expander.html

In my research it seems that the re-zipping/re-compressing was that the other methods that both crammed & uncrammed those files could misread that they were uncrammed & crams then again, & Stuffit Expander only uncompresses.

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Answer 7

Apr 12, 2012 6:32 AM in response to Tiberius Spock

I open the stuffit program and, from there, tried to open the file with no luck. This is weird. I must be missing something simple.

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Answer 8

BDAqua

Level 10

239,213 points

Apr 12, 2012 12:17 PM in response to Tiberius Spock

Anybody you trust that might try to open it or recover it?

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Answer 9

Apr 17, 2012 6:48 AM in response to Tiberius Spock

Problem solved.

I recently downloaded the mac "Numbers" application and deleted the "Open Office" program. I don't remember doing so but I did. Naturally, when I re-downloaded "OO" I could open the spreadsheets.

This still raises the bigger question of whether one spreadsheet program can open another's. Word processor programs have been compatable with each other and I would assume so are spreadsheet programs. I'm new to the Apple programs so it's more likely I'm just too much of a novice to figure things out quickly enough to only be a little frustrating.

Thanks for your help and time BD. It is appreciated.

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Answer 10

BDAqua

Level 10

239,213 points

Apr 17, 2012 12:03 PM in response to Tiberius Spock

Great work, thanks for the Report! 🙂

So much for "standards"...

http://lnxwalt.wordpress.com/2007/01/08/opening-odf-odt-ods-odp-etc-files/

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Answer 11

Apr 1, 2015 6:06 AM in response to Tiberius Spock

Same thing going on here. So once I unzipped the file using Archive Utility app, I had a .ots.cpgz extension on the file. I dragged that into the window of Google Sheets and that did the trick. Thank you!

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Answer 12

wezzawia

Level 1

4 points

Mar 2, 2017 6:37 AM in response to RobinFlys

Good idea, this worked for me too

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Answer 13

Nov 27, 2017 3:54 PM in response to John Lockwood

that worked for me too! thanks x

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