How to zip files on your computer or phone to save space

adminMarch 19, 2023

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When you “compress” a file, you compress its data and reduce the space it takes up on your computer or phone.
Almost all devices have built-in tools you can use to compress files (and unzip later).

Over time, your collection of photos, videos, documents, and games can take up a lot of space. Luckily, there’s a way to free up disk space without having to delete anything.

You can compress multiple files into a ZIP file, which reduces their file size without deleting anything. Compressing files is a great way to share them or store files that you don’t open often.

Reading: How to create a zip file to share

Learn how to compress files on all major devices and operating systems.

How to zip files on a Windows PC

1. Select all files you want to compress. You can either draw a box around them or hold Ctrl and click each one individually.

2. Right click on one of the files and select Send To and then Compressed (Zipped) Folder.

The option to zip files can be found in the “Send to” menu.

3. A ZIP file with all compressed data will be displayed. You can rename or move this file to anything you want.

If you want more control over how files are compressed, try an app like WinZip or WinRar.

Here’s how zip files on a Mac

1. Select all files you want to compress. You can either draw a box around them or hold down command and click each one individually.

How to Compress Files on a Chromebook

1. In the Files app, select all the files you want to compress. You can either draw a box around them or hold Ctrl and click each one individually.

2. Right-click on one of the files and select Zip Selection.

You can compress multiple file types together.

3. A ZIP file with all compressed data will be displayed. You can rename or move this file to whatever you like.

How to compress files on Linux

Unlike other systems, to compress files on a Linux computer, you must use the command line.

1. Open a command window by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T.

2. In the command window, type:

zip [what you want the zip file to be called].zip [files you want to zip]

So for example if you want to zip a text file with named “cat” and an image named “dog” into a zip file named “animals”, you would type:

zip animals.zip cat.txt dog.jpg

Your files will be “dumped” – Linux term for compressing – and then form the ZIP file. It appears in the same directory as the original files, and you see a percentage showing how compressed each file is.

Linux refers to compression as “dumping”.

What to do when Linux says “zip” is invalid?

The zip command is not always installed by default. If Linux doesn’t recognize it, you need to install it.

To fix this, first type and submit:

sudo apt install zip

sudo yum install zip

And then try the zip command again. Use the first if you’re running Ubuntu or Debian, or the second if you’re running Fedora or CentOS.

On some computers you may need to install the zip command before you can use it.

If you want to zip files with an app instead of command strings, you should download an app like PeaZip.

How to zip files on an iPhone or iPad</ h2

1. Open the Files app and locate the files you want to compress.

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2. On an iPhone, tap the three dots (…) in the upper-right corner, then tap Select. On an iPad, just tap Select in the top right.

You need to select all the files you want to compress.

3. Tap on all documents you want to compress.

4. Select the three dots (iPhone) or More (iPad) in the bottom right corner and click Compress.

Compress all selected files into a ZIP file.

A ZIP file will be saved in the folder you selected.

How to Compress Files on an Android Device

Depending on your Android device, you may have the file manager app as a built-in way to create ZIP files.But if it’s missing, downloading a third-party app like WinZip is an easy way to zip your files. Just note that you need to purchase the premium version to use all the features of WinZip.

Using the File Manager

1. Open the file manager app and move all the flies you want to compress into a single folder.

2. Tap on the three dots in the right corner.

3. Select all the items you want to compress and tap Compress at the bottom.

4. Then select Save and a new folder will be created with the compressed files.

With WinZip

1. Download and open WinZip, then give it access to your files when prompted.

2. You will see a list of folders, each with a different type of media on your device. Go to the folder of your choice.

3. If you select a single file, click on the three dots directly to the right of it. If you select multiple files, hold your finger on one and then select all the files you want.

4. Tap on Zip.

The “Zip” option should be the first in the list.

5. Choose the save location (Storage, Google Drive, etc.) and select Zip Here.