Zip file maker, files and folders to one ZIP.

A zip file maker packs many files and folders into one ZIP file that is easy to send, store and open on any computer. This one does the packing in your browser. You drop files or a whole folder, choose how much to compress, and download a single ZIP. The folder layout you dropped is the folder layout inside the ZIP.

How to make a ZIP

1. Drop files or a folder on the box, or click it to choose files. To pick a folder from a file window, press Choose a folder.
2. Check the list. Each row has the file name, the folder it sits in and its size. Press the cross at the end of a row to remove that file. Add files and Add a folder put more in.
3. Type a name in ZIP name. It starts as the name of the folder you dropped, or archive.
4. Pick Compression. Balanced suits most files.
5. Press Download the ZIP. The line above it says how many files went in, the size before and after, and the percent saved.

Which compression to pick

A ZIP compresses each file on its own with the deflate method. The four choices only change how much effort that takes.

How the size saved is worked out

The page adds up the size of every file in the list, then compares it with the size of the finished ZIP. For example, a folder of 48.0 MB that makes a ZIP of 31.2 MB saved (48.0 minus 31.2) divided by 48.0, which is 35.0 percent. If the ZIP comes out bigger, the page says so. That happens with JPG, PNG, MP3, MP4 and PDF files, which are usually compressed already, so a ZIP of them is about the same size as the files. Zipping still helps in that case, because it turns hundreds of files into one.

Folders, names and Mac files

• Folders are kept. A file at photos/2026/beach.jpg opens in the same place when the ZIP is unzipped. Empty folders you drop are kept as well.
• One folder inside. Tick Put everything in one folder inside the ZIP and the files unzip into a single folder named after the ZIP, instead of spilling out next to other files in Downloads.
• System files. Folders from a Mac carry .DS_Store files and a __MACOSX folder, and Windows folders can carry Thumbs.db. They hold Finder and Explorer details, not your content. They are left out unless you untick the box.
• Leave out words. Type words such as node_modules, .git and every file whose path contains one of them is left out. The row stays in the list, greyed, so you can see what was skipped.
• Duplicates. Two different files with the same path both go in; the second is named with (2).
• Dates and names. Each file keeps its modified date, to the nearest two seconds, which is how ZIP stores time. Names with accents or other alphabets are marked as UTF-8 so current unzip tools show them correctly.

Passwords and limits

This maker does not add a password. The old ZIP password is weak, and the stronger kind is not read by every unzip tool, so a ZIP made here could fail to open for the person you send it to. To keep a file private, send it through a service built for that.

The ZIP is built in your browser's memory, one file at a time. A browser tab can only use so much memory, so a very large set of files may fail with an out of memory message. For that, use the built-in tools: on a Mac, select the files in Finder, Control-click and choose Compress; on Windows, right-click and choose Send to, then Compressed (zipped) folder.

How the ZIP is made

Each file is read, packed with the deflate method at the level you chose, and written into the ZIP with its path, its size and its modified date. If a file does not get smaller when it is packed, it is stored as it is, so the ZIP never holds a file bigger than the original plus its small header. A ZIP with more than 65,535 files gets the extra records that large ZIPs need. A single file or a whole ZIP over 4 GB is refused.

Common problems

What to do next

To look inside a ZIP or take one file out, use unzip files. If someone sent you a RAR, RAR to ZIP turns it into a ZIP. Photos inside the ZIP can be made smaller first with the image compressor.