ZIP Creator (Free, Online)
Free online tool to compress multiple files or folders into a ZIP archive entirely in your browser, then download it. Dropping a folder preserves its original folder structure inside the ZIP. Files are never sent to a server.
What Is This ZIP Creator?
This is a free tool that lets you compress multiple files or folders into a ZIP archive entirely inside your browser. There's no need to upload anything to a server — every step of the compression happens on your own device, so you can use it with confidence even for sensitive files.
Drop a folder as-is and you get a ZIP that keeps its original folder structure intact, and you can also apply password-based encryption with a choice of two methods, AES-256 or ZipCrypto. Because you can pick the method that suits whoever is receiving the file, it's just as useful for sharing files at work as it is for personal use.
How to Use the ZIP Creator
- Add files or folders Drag and drop files or folders onto the drop area, or add them using the "Select Files" or "Select Folder" buttons.
- Enter a name for the ZIP file Type the name you want for the resulting ZIP file into the input field.
- Set compression and encryption options Choose whether to compress the archive, and optionally set a password and encryption method (AES-256 or ZipCrypto).
- Create and download the ZIP Press "Create ZIP and Download" and the file, built entirely in your browser, will be downloaded.
Tips for getting more out of it
- Drop a whole folder and it will be stored in the ZIP with its original folder structure preserved. If you select individual files instead, the resulting ZIP will be flat, with no folder structure.
- Unchecking "Compress" switches to the STORED (no compression) method, which runs much faster. When bundling files that are already compressed — images, video, audio, ZIP files, and the like — the size barely changes either way, so skipping compression is faster with almost no downside.
- If you add multiple files with the same name, they are automatically distinguished with a number, like "filename (1).ext". The original contents are never overwritten or lost.
- Bundling a huge number of files, or very large files, can take a while since everything is processed in your browser's memory — and it may even fail depending on your device. For anything from a few hundred megabytes up to several gigabytes, we recommend splitting the job into a few smaller ZIPs.
- Entering a password in the password field encrypts the entire ZIP. Leave it blank and the ZIP will open for anyone, as before. The password you set isn't saved anywhere, so if you forget it you won't be able to get the contents back out.
- You can choose between two encryption methods. AES-256 is strong, but it can't be opened with Windows' built-in "Extract All" feature — you'll need compatible software like 7-Zip. ZipCrypto can be extracted directly with Windows Explorer's built-in feature, but it's a legacy method with weaker encryption. Choose ZipCrypto if the recipient only has Windows' built-in feature available, or AES-256 if confidentiality is the priority.
Ways to Use the ZIP Creator
Attaching several files to an email
Bundle files that would otherwise be a hassle to send one by one into a single ZIP and attach that instead.
Handing off a project while keeping its folder structure
Drop an entire project folder as-is and share it as a ZIP that preserves the original hierarchy.
Sharing confidential files with a password
Use password encryption to keep things secure when sharing files outside your organization.
Bundling images or videos for a single download
Combine multiple images or video clips into one ZIP so the recipient can grab everything in a single download.
ZIP Compression Glossary
- DEFLATE
- The compression algorithm ZIP normally uses. The more a data set repeats the same patterns, the higher the compression ratio it can achieve.
- STORED
- A method that stores files as-is without compressing them. It processes quickly when bundling files — images, video, and the like — that are already compressed.
- AES-256
- One of the strong encryption methods available. Using it to encrypt a ZIP gives high security, but the archive can't be extracted with Windows' built-in feature.
- ZipCrypto
- A long-standing encryption method built into the ZIP format. It can be extracted with Windows' built-in feature, but its encryption strength is weak.
- Zip bomb
- A malicious ZIP file engineered to exploit an extremely high compression ratio, so that extracting it produces an enormous amount of data.
Frequently Asked Questions
Side Note — What Can (and Can't) Be Compressed
ZIP's DEFLATE compression excels at data where the same pattern repeats, like text files or bitmap images. Files that are already compressed — JPEG, PNG, MP4, MP3, and so on — have almost no repeating patterns left, so putting them in a ZIP barely changes their size (it can even grow slightly).
This property, turned on its head, is exactly how a "zip bomb" works. A file that repeats a single character (say, the digit 0) over and over compresses at an almost unbelievable ratio — in theory, a ZIP just a few kilobytes in size could expand to several terabytes once extracted. That's one reason it isn't a good idea to blindly extract every file inside a ZIP you don't trust.
Incidentally, files ending in ".zip" aren't the only ones that are actually ZIP files under the hood. Microsoft Office's .docx and .xlsx, Java's .jar, and Android's .apk are all built on a ZIP container holding multiple files internally. ZIP is used far more widely than you might expect, as a kind of universal "box for bundling several files into one."