Create a zip file online

What is a zip file for?

A ZIP puts many files into one. A set of photos, invoices or project files is then easier to attach to an email, send in a chat app or upload to a form that takes only one file. Nothing gets left behind. Windows, macOS, iOS, Android and ChromeOS all open ZIP files without extra software, so the person you send it to doesn't need to install anything.

Zip files online, no software needed

Making a ZIP usually means a right-click menu or a command line. This zip file maker works in any modern browser instead. Drop your files, check the list and get one archive back. It helps on a computer where you can't install an archiver. It also helps when your files sit in different folders. Add them in several rounds and they all end up in the same zip.

How to make a zip file online

Drop the files on the box above, or click it to pick them. Each file shows up in a list with its size, plus a running total. Remove any file you don't want. Then press Create ZIP. Your browser downloads archive.zip with every file in the list.

How to create a zip file on Windows, Mac and iPhone

On your own device, the built-in compress option is often the fastest way to make a zip file:

• Windows 11: select the files in File Explorer, right-click and choose Compress to ZIP file. On newer builds it is under Compress to > ZIP File.
• Windows 10: select the files, right-click and choose Send to > Compressed (zipped) folder. Windows 11 has the same command under Show more options.
• Mac: select the files in Finder, Control-click and choose Compress. One item becomes name.zip. Several items become Archive.zip in the same folder.
• iPhone and iPad: in the Files app, long-press a file or folder and tap Compress. To zip several items, tap Select, choose them, tap the More button and then Compress.
• Any other device: drop the files on this page and press Create ZIP.

How the ZIP is built

Files go into a standard ZIP container one after another. Each file is stored as it is, without extra compression. That keeps zipping fast, and the archive ends up about the same size as the files added together. For photos, videos, PDFs and Office files this rarely matters, since they are already compressed inside. If you want to shrink large text, CSV or log files, use your system's Compress command. It applies DEFLATE and gives a smaller file. The output here is a normal .zip that opens anywhere.

File names, folders and duplicates

Each file goes into the top level of the ZIP under its original name. You can't drop a whole folder. Open the folder in the file picker, select everything inside with Ctrl+A or Cmd+A and add those files. If two files have the same name, rename one first. Both are included, but most unzip tools will ask to overwrite one with the other when extracting.

Your files stay on your device

The archive is built in your browser. Your files are never sent to a server. That makes it a good fit for contracts, ID scans, payroll exports and other work files you don't want on someone else's storage.

Before you start

Create ZIP files works on the text or values you enter. Output: ZIP. The settings appear before anything runs, so you can check them first. Your original file is never changed.

Archives and fonts can hold many files or complex tables. Look over the file names you get. Don't open programs you didn't expect, and keep the source until you have checked the output.

Keep the original until you have opened and checked the result. The work happens in this browser tab, so the size you can handle depends on your device's memory, your browser and the file itself.

How to create a zip file online

1. Drop the files you want to zip into the box above.
2. Add more files, or remove any you don't need from the list.
3. Press Create ZIP to build the archive on your device.
4. Your browser downloads one file called archive.zip.