Decide what belongs in the archive
Open the folder and look at it as the recipient will. A ZIP preserves whatever you put in, including draft versions, system files and the half-finished subfolder you forgot about. Removing or relocating those before you zip is faster than explaining them afterwards, and it keeps the archive honest about what it contains.
Decide whether the recipient needs the folder structure or just the files. Structure matters for a website export, a photo set organised by date, or anything where the path is part of the meaning. If you are sending three documents for review, a flat archive of three files is easier for them to work with than three nested folders.
Note the total size of the folder before you start. Your file manager shows it in the folder’s properties or information panel. Without that number you cannot tell whether the ZIP achieved anything, and you will not know whether you are close to an email attachment limit. Write it down, or keep the window open.
Zip a folder in your browser
Open Create ZIP and use the folder option rather than the file picker. Your browser asks for permission to read the folder, then lists everything inside it, including subfolders. The relative paths are kept, so extracting the archive rebuilds the same tree the recipient expects.
Give the archive a deliberate name in the archive-name field. project-handover-2026-10-03.zip tells someone what they have received and when; archive.zip tells them nothing and collides with the last four archives in their downloads folder. The name is also the first thing they see in an email attachment list.
The work happens in your browser. The folder is read locally, the archive is assembled locally, and nothing is uploaded to a server — which matters when the folder holds client documents, invoices or personal records. The tool shows the size before and after, so you can see what the compression actually bought you before you commit to sending it.
Choose a compression level that suits the contents
Create ZIP offers four levels: Store only, Fast, Normal and Maximum. They all produce a valid ZIP that any tool can open; they differ in how hard the compressor works and how long it takes. Normal is the sensible default for a mixed folder and is what you should use unless you have a reason not to.
Match the level to the file types. Text-like content — documents, spreadsheets, CSV exports, HTML, source code, uncompressed images such as BMP or TIFF — compresses well, and Maximum is worth the extra seconds on a large set. Already-compressed content barely moves, because the redundancy ZIP looks for has already been removed:
| Folder contents | Suggested level | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| Documents, spreadsheets, code, CSV | Maximum | A genuine reduction, often substantial |
| Mixed folder of documents and photos | Normal | Some saving, mostly from the documents |
| JPEG, PNG, MP4, most PDFs | Fast or Store only | Little or no size change — you are bundling |
| Very large folder, speed matters | Fast | Quickest archive, slightly larger file |
Store only is not a pointless setting. It packages files without compressing them, which is the quickest way to turn a folder into a single attachment when you already know the contents will not shrink. If your folder is 400 photos, Store only gets you a sendable archive without spending minutes recompressing data that is already compressed.
Zip a folder on Windows and Mac
Both desktop operating systems can zip a folder without any installation. On Windows, right-click the folder and choose the compress or “Send to → Compressed (zipped) folder” option; Microsoft’s own guide covers the current wording, which has changed across Windows versions. The archive appears next to the original folder.
On a Mac, select the folder in Finder, right-click (or Control-click) and choose Compress. Apple’s Finder documentation describes the same action and where the result is saved. The output is named after the folder, with .zip appended.
The built-in tools give you no choice of compression level and no size preview, which is the main practical difference from a browser tool. They are the right choice when you want an encrypted archive — something a browser cannot produce — or when the folder is enormous and you would rather not hold it all in a browser tab. Use whichever fits; both produce standard ZIP files.
Check the archive before you send it
Open your own ZIP before anyone else does. Drop it into Unzip, or extract it with your operating system, and confirm the file count and the folder tree match what you intended. A missing subfolder is far cheaper to discover now than after the recipient has started work.
Compare the archive size with the folder size you noted earlier. If a folder of documents produced an archive that is almost identical in size, check whether the documents are actually scans — a PDF full of page images behaves like a photo set, not like text. In that case compress the documents first with Compress PDF, then zip the smaller versions.
If the archive is for an email, check it against the real limit rather than the one you assume applies. Attachment caps vary by provider and by the recipient’s employer, and the sending limit is not always the receiving limit. The guide to emailing large files covers how to find the number that actually applies and what to do when the archive is still too big.
Keep the original folder until delivery is confirmed
A ZIP is a copy, not a move. Keep the source folder exactly as it is until the recipient confirms they have opened the archive and found everything. Deleting the original the moment the archive is built removes your only way to rebuild it if the transfer fails or the contents turn out to be wrong.
Be careful about treating a ZIP as long-term storage of record. It is a reliable container, but a single corrupted download leaves you with one unusable file instead of a folder of individually readable ones. For anything you need to keep, store the files themselves and treat the archive as a transport format.
If you are building the same archive repeatedly — a weekly report pack, a monthly set of invoices — standardise the folder layout and the naming so each archive looks like the last. Predictable structure is what makes the recipient able to find things without asking you, and it makes a missing file obvious at a glance.
Open Create ZIPZip files or a whole folder in your browser, with the structure kept intact.
Open Create ZIP →Frequently asked questions
Does zipping a folder keep its subfolders?
Yes. A ZIP stores the relative path of every file, so subfolders and their nesting are rebuilt when the archive is extracted.
Why did my ZIP barely get smaller?
JPEG, PNG, MP4 and most PDFs are already compressed, so ZIP finds little left to remove. Expect bundling rather than a size reduction with those files.
Can I password-protect a ZIP in the browser?
No. PDFNest’s Create ZIP does not add encryption. Use your operating system’s archive tool for an encrypted archive, or protect the documents themselves before zipping.