Matt Cone January 8, 2021 TutorialsMac

Follow these steps to open zip files on Mac: Click the Unzip button. From the drop down menu, choose to unzip your files to this Mac, iCloud Drive, Dropbox or Google Drive. A 'Finder style' window will open. You can browse to the folder where you want the files saved. Choose to unzip the Entire Zip file or Selected Items. Open the folder with files or folders you want to zip up Select the items you want to include in the zip file and right-click on any one of the items. Select 'Compress (x) Items' from the pop-up menu. Once again, a progress bar will display.

If you own a Mac, you’ll eventually need to transfer files and folders to others. To do that, you’re going to want to shrink - or compress - the files so they take up the least amount of space possible. That way, it will be easy to move your files via email, FTP, or even with an instant messaging application.

In the past, Mac users had to rely on an expensive application called Stuffit to compress files and folders. That application’s still around, but it’s no longer necessary the way it once was. In fact, macOS has built-in features that allow you to compress - or zip - files and folders on the spot. You can also uncompress zipped files and folders - it’s all built into macOS.

Here’s how to compress files and folders on your Mac:

1. Locate the file or folder you want to compress. You can select multiple files and folders by holding down the Shift key (for multiple items) or the Command key (for several individual items) and clicking.

2. After you’ve selected the files and folders, right click on them, and then select Compress.

3. A window may appear indicating that your Mac is compressing the files or folders. Depending on the size of the files or the folders, this could take a couple minutes.

4. Once your Mac has finished compressing the files or folders, you’ll see a nice little zip file. This contains all of the files and folders you selected to be compressed. Just send this to your Mac- or PC-using friends - they’ll be able to open it. All Mac users have to do to open the zip file is double-click it!

How Small Can You Make the Files?

How much space can you save by compressing? That depends on the type of files you’re trying to compress. Generally speaking, a zip file will be about 10% smaller than all of the files were before they were compressed. This feature works best with medium size files - compressing lots of small files or one or two big files won’t save you much space.

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What is a ZIP file and why are they used?
A ZIP file is a compressed file, it is also referred to as an Archive file. This ZIP file is mainly used to compress or shrink a large file to a smaller volume. The use of ZIP files can also allow the user to consolidate and compress multiple files to be able to transfer the file via mail or portable storage drives. This article guides you on how to create a ZIP file on your MacBook.

How to Create a ZIP file on Mac

Creating a ZIP file on your MacBook is very simple. Follow the steps mentioned below to successfully compress the file.

How to Compress a single file

• Right-click on any file that you wish to compress
• Choose Compress from the pop-up
• This will create a compressed ZIP file with the original file name.

How Do I compress multiple files

• Hold the Command key and select all the file that you wish to ZIP
• Right-click on the highlighted files and choose Compress from the pop-up menu
• By doing so all the files will be shrunk to a single file with the name Archive.zip

How to shrink multiple files with the specified file name?

Sometimes having a file named archive might confuse you while accessing or identifying the ZIP file. To avoid this confusion here is what you can do.

• Hold the Command key and select all the files to be compressed on your MacBook
• Right-click on the files and choose New Folder with Selection (X items) here X indicates the number of files you have selected.
• Now give the folder a suitable name of your choice and hit enter to create the new folder
• Finally, right-click on the newly created folder and select Compress from the pop-up

This way you can successfully create a ZIP folder of all the files with the name of your choice.
But having more number of files within a single folder can also be a problem. Because you cannot compress files or folders that are more than 4 GB in size.

Is there an easier way to compress large files or folders?

Yes, with the Remo ZIP File on your Mac, there is no limitation to the number of files that can be compressed. What’s more impressive is, you also get to split large files and specify the size of each ZIP file.

How to Create Password Protected ZIP Files in Mac Terminal

The above-mentioned steps will now allow you to create files that are encrypted. Suppose you have a set of confidential files, you can create a ZIP file and protect the files with a password using Terminal. Here is how you can do it.

• Type Terminal in the search box, and click on the first result
• In the Terminal window, type cd desktop. (Here Desktop is the destination where you are creating the new ZIP file or folder) you can choose where you want to save the file by specifying the exact path
• The newly created ZIP file will be stored in the Users folder, if you don't specify any destination
• Next, type zip -e name.zip<space>filename.fileextension (Note: Here name is the name that you want to give the new ZIP file and filename.fileextension is the name of the file or folder you want to compress). Next, hit Enter
• You will be asked to provide the desired password for the file, give a password, and hit enter.
  Next, you need to verify the password by re-typing the password. Once done press enter.
• Finally, your password-protected ZIP file will be created and saved in the specified destination folder
  With the above steps, you will be able to create a ZIP file that is secure or password protected.

Zip Multiple Files At Once

However, there are limitations to manual methods. Also compressing a file by Terminal command could be very tricky, and time-consuming. You might also corrupt your precious files if not done the right way.

Batch Unzip Multiple Files

Note: If your ZIP file still exceeds the limit while sending an email, then read this article on how to create a Spanned Zip file for easy sharing of large files across.

Mac Zip Multiple Files Individually

What is the best and safest way to encrypt and compress files on Mac?

To overcome this limitation, you can certainly take the aid of the Remo ZIP file for your Mac computer. This tool can password protect your files using the Advanced Encryption Standard(AES), which keeps your data safe from any security threats. The tool is compatible with all the versions of macOS including the latest Big Sur. Download and try the software for free now.

Conclusion

ZIP files are one of the best ways to archive files that can save a lot of space on the drive. The steps mentioned above can help you to create a ZIP file on your Mac. If you have any doubts or questions related to the topic please mention them in the comment section below.