Create ZIP

How Create ZIP works

Select or drop any files and they are packed into a single ZIP, which opens on every computer and phone without extra software. Files with the same name are renamed automatically, so nothing is overwritten.

Normal compression is the right choice for most files. Maximum squeezes a little more out of text, documents and spreadsheets at the cost of time; None just bundles files together, which is fastest and makes sense for photos, videos and music that are already compressed.

The ZIP is built by fflate, a fast open-source compression library, inside this tab. Your files are read from your device and never uploaded.

The archive is saved as files.zip; rename it to something descriptive before sending. Files keep their names and their contents are byte for byte identical when unzipped, since ZIP compression is lossless. Any type of file can go in, including documents, images, videos and other archives, and the ZIP opens with a double click on Windows and macOS and with the Files app on iPhone and Android. Because the ZIP is built on your device, it also suits confidential files that should not be uploaded to a converter site. Creating the ZIP takes a moment even for hundreds of files. Folders are not kept as folders: every file sits at the top level of the ZIP, which is the simplest layout for the person who opens it.

Create ZIP options explained

When to use it

Zipping is the easy way to send many files as one attachment, to upload a set of documents to a portal that accepts a single file, or to keep a folder of files together for backup.

Photos, videos and MP3s barely shrink in a ZIP because they are already compressed; choose None for them to save time. Documents, spreadsheets and text shrink a lot, often to a quarter of their size or less.

About these archive tools

Extraction uses libarchive, the library built into many operating systems, compiled to WebAssembly; creating ZIPs uses fflate, a small and fast compression library. Both run inside this tab. Archives are lossless, so every file comes out byte for byte identical to what went in. Everything is held in memory while it works, which is fine for the documents, photos and downloads people usually zip and unzip, but for backups of many gigabytes a desktop program such as 7-Zip is the better tool. To change an archive from one format to another in one step, such as RAR to ZIP, use the archive converter.

Create ZIP troubleshooting

The ZIP is not much smaller

Photos, videos and music are already compressed and barely shrink. That is expected; the ZIP still keeps them together in one file.

Two files had the same name

The second copy is renamed with a number, such as report (2).pdf, so both are kept.

The browser slows down with big files

The ZIP is built in memory. For many gigabytes of files, use the compress option built into Windows or macOS instead.

How to use Create ZIP, step by step

1. Press "Choose files to zip" or drag files onto the box.
2. Set the options if you need to; the defaults suit most uses.
3. Press "Create ZIP". The work happens on your device.
4. Save the result with its download button.

Is it safe to do this online?

With most online tools, "online" means your file is uploaded to a company's server, processed there and kept for a while before it is deleted. Here it is not. The page downloads the tool's code to your browser, and your file is read and processed inside the tab on your own device. It is never sent to TapToConvert or anyone else.

You can check this yourself: once the page and its engine have loaded, turn off Wi-Fi and the tool still works. That also means there is no queue, no daily limit and no file size cap set by a server; the only limit is the memory your browser gives a single tab.