Create a ZIP file

A ZIP file bundles many files into one, often smaller, file. That makes it easier to:

• email or upload a set of documents, photos or a project folder as a single attachment,
• keep folder structure intact when you share or back up files,
• reduce size for text-heavy files such as documents, spreadsheets, code and logs,
• protect files with a password before sending them.

Everything is packed in your browser. Your files are never uploaded, which matters for contracts, tax documents and other private material.

Files that are already compressed, such as JPG, PNG, MP4, MP3, ZIP and DOCX, are stored as they are, because compressing them again would not make them smaller, only slower. That is why a ZIP of photos is often about the same size as the photos.

• AES-256 (recommended) is strong, modern encryption. To open the ZIP, the recipient needs an app that supports AES ZIP files, such as 7-Zip, WinRAR, The Unarchiver, or our online unzip tool. The built-in extractors of Windows and macOS usually cannot open AES-encrypted ZIPs.
• ZipCrypto (legacy) opens with the built-in Windows extractor, but its encryption is weak and can be cracked with freely available tools. Use it only when the recipient cannot install anything and the content is not highly sensitive.

Good practice: use a long password, and send it through a different channel than the file, for example by text message if the ZIP goes by email. Note that ZIP encryption protects file contents, but the file names inside the ZIP remain visible without the password.

Drag a folder onto the drop area, or click Choose folder, and all files inside, including subfolders, are added with their paths, so the ZIP recreates the same folder structure when it is extracted. If you add several items with the same name, the tool renames duplicates automatically, for example "report (2).pdf", so nothing is overwritten.

When the files all come from one folder, the ZIP is named after that folder automatically; you can change the name before creating it.

• The ZIP is built in your browser's memory, so very large totals (several gigabytes) may fail on devices with little memory. Split huge sets into several ZIPs.
• Many email services limit attachments to about 20–25 MB in total. For larger files, use a cloud storage link.
• To make photos smaller before zipping, compress the images first; zipping alone barely shrinks JPGs.
• Before sending, check the list of files and the total size shown above the options, and remove anything you added by mistake with the X next to it.
• You can cancel a long ZIP job at any time with the Cancel button.