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Create a ZIP file

Bundle several files into one ZIP, choosing how hard to compress them.

10 / 10 free files today

Create a ZIP file works straight from this page — free, instant, nothing to install. It sits under Archives & splitting in our catalogue, alongside Create a TAR file and Archive extractor (ZIP, TAR, GZIP).

How to use it

  1. Open the tool — no signup or install needed.
  2. Enter your input or adjust the available options.
  3. Get your result instantly, then copy or download it.

Frequently asked questions

What is Create a ZIP file?

Bundle several files into one ZIP, choosing how hard to compress them.

When would I actually use this?

Bundling several files into one to send, opening a ZIP or a TAR without installing anything, and cutting a file that exceeds an attachment or upload limit into pieces that can be put back together.

What is the most common mistake?

Treating the parts of a split file as files. A piece is a slice of bytes, not a smaller version of the original: it opens as nothing, and the whole is recoverable only if every part is present, unrenamed and in order. Losing one part loses the file.

How is Create a ZIP file different from Create a TAR file?

They sit next to each other but answer different questions. Create a TAR file: bundle several files into an uncompressed .tar, the archive Unix tooling expects. Pick whichever matches what you're starting from — both are free.

Is there a tool for the next step?

Archive extractor (ZIP, TAR, GZIP) is the closest one after this: Open a ZIP, TAR or GZIP archive and download any file inside it, one by one.

What else is worth having open alongside it?

TAR to ZIP and ZIP to TAR — they come up in the same task often enough to be worth a second tab.

Where do the figures come from?

ZIP and TAR are open container formats with published layouts, and both are read and written here in the browser. A container records names, sizes and order; it does not record who made it or whether the contents are what they claim, so the container is a wrapper, never a guarantee. The parts a splitter writes record nothing at all: they carry no header, and a merger restores the original only if every piece is present and in order.

Further reading

All guides →
ComparisonZIP or TAR: Which One, and Why It MattersOne structural difference explains everything else: TAR does not compress, it only stacks; ZIP compresses each file on its own. Measured on 60 small source files, that is the difference between 1,809 bytes and 14,686.How-toSplitting a File That Is Too Big to SendThe last resort when nothing can be compressed further. It works, and it has three sharp edges: the parts are useless on their own, the order is absolute, and the megabyte you set is not the megabyte the limit means.How-toOne File per Tab, and What a Split Leaves BehindSplitting a workbook writes one .xlsx per sheet, named after the tab. It carries the values across and not the formulas — which is the right default when the point is to send one department its own tab.ExplainerWhy Compressing a File Twice Does Not Halve It TwiceThe first pass takes 30% off and the second takes nothing. That is not a broken tool — it is the difference between removing redundancy and removing information, and knowing which one you are doing tells you when to stop and what a second attempt actually costs.How-toMerging Workbooks: One Sheet Each, or One Table for AllTwelve monthly reports can become twelve tabs or one table of twelve months. Only the second can be sorted and summed in one go — and it is the one where the header rows need handling.ExplainerThe .ods File That Is Valid, and That Your Reader RefusesOpenDocument makes styles.xml optional. Several readers demand it and reject the whole document without it — "Cannot find file styles.xml in zip" on a file that is not broken.