I've zipped a directory with a command like one of these:
I would expect to be asked for a password when I open the zip file. After entering the password, THEN I can extract all the files and access everything. I (think I) recall doing this with a zip program on Windows at work.

What those two commands actually get me is a zip file that totally exposes its contents, (STOP, see edit) then asks for a password when I open each zipped file. I guess my files are encrypted, but this is annoying because I'm encrypting a large number of files that'd be opened individually in their use. Is there a way to get what I want above? To only be prompted for a password at extraction?

EDIT: I take that back, it doesn't ask for a password after extraction, but I'm still annoyed that all the contents are exposed. What can be done about that?

Apologies if I scrolled past the relevant info on the man pages!

-mhe=on option is not valid for zip files.

The zip file format was created back in the 80s and basically that is how it works. If you want to hide the file names you need to use a different archiving format. The file contents are encrypted just not the names.

As far as I know you can not encrypt an existing zip file.

I can't say I fully understand your question. If the zip file is password protected then any unzipping program should ask for the password which will extract all files. It is possible to extract single file.

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Thanks for the reply, and apologies for garbling the question.

Revised question(s) in light of your response:

1. Is there a better encrypted data storage tool that hides the filenames?
2. Same as 1, but which can I extract and access from a Windows computer?

Using Engrampa on Mint, I can right-click on a file, or series of files, and compress them as a .7z with encryption. When I do so, there is an option "Encrypt the file list too" so that when I open the zip file, it asks me straight away for the password without showing the filenames (in Engrampa anyway).

If Engrampa can do it, there will be a way to do it on the command line.

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Can confirm that the following works in the way that you want:

So, as michaelk correctly pointed out, it's just a case of choosing another archiving format, in this case 7-zip.

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