Updated
Making a ZIP file here is quick: add the files, press Create ZIP and download a single archive holding all of them. It solves three everyday problems: a form that accepts only one upload, a stack of documents that should travel as one email attachment, and a set of files that belongs together in storage.
How to zip files online
- Add the files, or drop a whole folder, onto the page.
- Press Create ZIP.
- Save the archive.
Will the archive be smaller?
It depends on the contents. ZIP uses Deflate, a lossless method, so unpacking gives back every file unchanged. Big savings are common with plain text, CSV, spreadsheets, WAV recordings and uncompressed image formats like TIFF and BMP. A folder of CSV exports or plain text files is the typical case where zipping pays off in size.
Files that already use compression hardly shrink: PDF, JPG, PNG, MP3, MP4 and office documents all fall in this group, since their data is packed tightly to begin with. With those, what you win is convenience, a single file in place of a pile.
To cut the size of photos, run them through Compress Image before zipping; Compress PDF does the same job for PDFs.
What the archive looks like inside
The structure is flat. Each file keeps its original name and lies directly in the root of the archive, without any folders, even when you dropped a folder. Repeated names are handled for you: a number is appended to the later file, and both survive.
Every common desktop and phone operating system opens ZIP files without extra software, so whoever receives the archive needs nothing special to get at the contents.
Passwords and privacy
These archives are not encrypted and cannot carry a password. Secure anything sensitive before it goes in: protect the PDF itself with Protect PDF, then zip it.
Packing happens on our servers in Germany. Files travel over an encrypted connection, and both the uploads and the finished archive are deleted automatically within two hours.
Packing a big batch
Without an account, an archive holds up to 5 files of up to 50 MB each. A free account allows 10 files, and Pro takes it to 500 files per archive, each as large as 500 MB. However many files go in, the result is one ZIP, ready to attach or upload. Credits cover one oversized job without a subscription, at one credit per 25 files, and they never expire.
When the files need work before they are packed, a pipeline handles both in one run. The Archive preset, for instance, strips photo metadata and then zips the set. Pipelines run free on 3 files or fewer.
FAQ
Do subfolders survive in the archive?
No. The archive is always flat, so any folder structure is lost. To keep folders, use the compress option built into your computer's file manager instead.
Why is the ZIP nearly as large as the files?
They were compressed already, as photos, videos and PDFs usually are.
How does the person receiving it open the ZIP?
A double-click opens it on a computer, and a tap in the file manager opens it on a phone. Our Extract ZIP tool works too.
Which kinds of files can be zipped?
All of them. The archive stores whatever it is given, unchanged.