Buzz
File compression is a simple yet highly useful task, reducing the size of a file collection while ensuring data integrity. It's convenient for copying to other locations or uploading online. With support from various Windows versions, the ZIP format is becoming increasingly popular. Check out the following guide for quick and effective ways to compress and extract ZIP files.
Method 1: ZIP File Compression and Extraction Using Windows Features
As mentioned earlier, starting from Windows XP, users can compress and extract ZIP files directly without the need for any third-party tools.
* Compression Guide:
- Select the files you want to compress, then right-click on any chosen file, hover over Send to, and click on Compressed (zipped) folder.
* Decompression Guide:
- To extract all, right-click on the ZIP file, choose Extract All….
By default, the extracted component files will be in the same directory as the ZIP file. However, you can change the extraction directory by clicking Browse.... Optionally, check the Show extracted files when complete box to display the extracted files after completion.
- If you only want to extract specific files, double-click on the ZIP file to open it as a regular folder. Then, copy or cut the files you want to extract and paste them into the desired folder.
Method 2: ZIP File Compression and Extraction Using Software
There are various software options for compression and extraction, among which WinRAR is the most popular. Let me introduce how to use this software.
After installation, follow these steps:
* Compression Guide:
- Select the files you want to compress, then right-click on any chosen file, press Add to archive….
- There are many options, but you only need to focus on naming the compressed file and choosing the ZIP compression format, then press OK.
* Extraction Guide:
- Right-click on the ZIP file. WinRAR provides three extraction methods as follows:
• Extract files…: Unzip with various options. However, usually, we only care about the destination folder path and whether to overwrite files (if there are duplicates during extraction).
• Extract Here: Unzip all into the current folder. This method is quick but not suitable if the compressed pair has too many files and is not neatly organized in one folder.
• Create a new folder named <folder name>\: Make a new folder with the same name as the ZIP file in the current directory, then unzip everything inside that folder.
Method 3: Online ZIP File Compression and Extraction
If your device doesn't run Windows, and you haven't installed any compression-decompression application yet, using an online tool is the quickest and most effective method. Here, I'll introduce how to compress and decompress files on the website https://www.files2zip.com/.
* Compression Guide:
- Click on Browse… and select the files you want to compress.
- Hit Zip it! to initiate the compression process.
- Click on the Download icon to fetch the ZIP file. Additionally, the website allows you to send the ZIP file via email or save it in Dropbox.
* Extraction Guide:
- Click on Browse… and choose the ZIP file you want to extract.
- The list of all compressed files will appear. To download a specific file, click on its name.
Thus, Mytour has introduced three quick, simple, and effective methods for compressing and extracting ZIP files. Choose the most suitable method for your specific case. Best of luck to you!
