Over time, your collection of photos, videos, documents, and games can take up a lot of space. Fortunately, there is a way to free up storage space without having to delete anything.
You can compress multiple files into a ZIP file, reducing their file size without deleting anything. Compressing files is a great way to share them or store files that you don’t open often.
Here’s how to compress files on all popular devices and operating systems.
How to compress files on Windows PC
1. Select all the files you want to compress. You can either drag a frame around them or hold Ctrl and click on each one individually.
2. Right click on any of the files and select Send to, then select Compressed folder (zipped).
The option to compress files is found in the “Send to” menu.
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3. A ZIP file will appear containing all the compressed data. Feel free to rename or move this file as you wish.
If you want more control over how files are compressed, try using an application like WinZip or WinRar.
How to compress files on a Mac
1. Select all the files you want to compress. You can either drag a frame around them or hold Order and click on each one individually.
2. Right click on any of the files and select Compress.
Right click on your highlighted files and select the “Compress” option.
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3. A ZIP file will appear containing all the compressed data. Feel free to rename or move this file as you wish.
How to compress files on Chromebook
1. In the Files app, select all the files you want to compress. You can either drag a frame around them or hold Ctrl and click on each one individually.
2. Right click on any of the files and select Postal code selection.
You can compress several types of files together.
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3. A ZIP file will appear containing all the compressed data. Feel free to rename or move this file as you wish.
How to compress files in Linux
Unlike other systems, you will have to use the command line to compress the files on a Linux computer.
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 wanted to compress a text file called “cat” and an image called “dog” into a ZIP file called “animals”, you would type:
zip animals.zip cat.txt dog.jpg
Your files will “deflate” – the Linux term for compression – then form the ZIP file. It will appear in the same directory as the original files and you will see a percentage indicating the compression level of each file.
Linux calls compression “deflation”.
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If you want to compress files using an app instead of command strings, consider downloading an app like PeaZip.
How to compress files on iPhone or iPad
1. Open the Files app and find the files you want to compress.
2. On an iPhone, tap the three points (…) in the upper right corner then To select. On an iPad, just tap To select in the upper right corner.
You will need to select all the files you want to compress.
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3. Tap all the documents you want to compress.
4. Select the three points (iPhone) or After (iPad) in the lower right corner and tap Compress.
Compress all the files you selected into a single ZIP.
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A ZIP file will be saved in the folder you selected.
How to compress files on an Android
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 compress your files. Just note that in order to use all the features of WinZip, you will need to purchase the premium version.
Using the file manager
1. Open the File Manager app and move all the flies you want to compress into one folder.
2. Tap the three dots in the right corner.
3. Select all the items you want to compress, and at the bottom, tap Compress.
4. Then select Save and a new folder will be created with the compressed files.
Using 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. Head to the folder of your choice.
3. If you select a single file, tap the three dots directly to its right. If you select more than one file, press and hold one of them, and then select all the files you want.
4. Tap Zipper.
The “Zip” option should be the first on the list.
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5. Choose the save location (Storage,
Google drive
, etc.) and select Zip here.
