You can open it (i.e., view the file listing), but you can't extract the files from it, or can you? Other programs ask for the password immediately, because they don't have the ability to view the file listing before extracting the archive.

Here's a more complete post about password encryption.

Ok, thanks. If this is true, then programs capable of browsing zip files before opening them can read the file and folder names of everything, even in an encrypted zip file.

To me this seems a bit unsafe for transferring sensitive data... What are the chances of an option to "require password prior to browsing"???

again, thanks for the help!

If you need that, you have to use another file format that supports header encryption like 7-zip or rar. Zip does not support the use of encrypted file listings. BetterZip can create 7-zip files, but turning on header encryption is a bit tricky at the moment. There will be a regular user interface in a future version.

As an alternative you could put the zip file into another password protected zip file. People who don't know the password would only see the name of the inner zip file which can be something like aaa.zip.

Ok. I will look into turning on the header encryption. And I thought about the zip in a zip, but thats too much work imo.

Thanks for the speedy replies!

Thank you! Turning on the header encryption worked exactly like I wanted it to.

Also, just out of curiosity, is there a reason you recommend zip files over 7zip format in your preferences?

Yes, compatibility. Mac OS X and Windows can extract (unencrypted) zip files out of the box. For 7-zip you need extra software like BetterZip on the Mac or 7-zip on Windows.

Is it already fixed?

What? Please be more specific. This thread did not talk about any problems or bugs of BetterZip so far.

Have you already added an official header encryption feature without the hidden options mentioned here: http://macitbetter.com/hidden-options ?

Ah, okay. No, that is still open. It's going to be in a version later this year.