Published 2020-08-10 by TechNet New England
Windows has built-in support for zip files. You do not need WinZip, WinRAR, or 7-Zip for basic compression and extraction. ## How to Create a Zip File ### Single File or Folder 1. Right-click the file or folder you want to compress. 2. Select **Compress to ZIP file** (Windows 11) or **Send to > Compressed (zipped) folder** (older Windows). 3. A new .zip file is created in the same location. Rename it if needed. ### Multiple Files 1. Select all the files you want to include. Hold **Ctrl** and click each file, or click the first file, hold **Shift**, and click the last file to select a range. 2. Right-click the selection. 3. Select **Compress to ZIP file**. 4. A single .zip file is created containing all selected files. ## How to Extract (Unzip) a Zip File ### Extract All 1. Right-click the .zip file. 2. Select **Extract All**. 3. Choose a destination folder (or keep the default, which creates a new folder with the zip file's name). 4. Click **Extract**. 5. All files are extracted to the selected location. ### Extract Individual Files 1. Double-click the .zip file to open it like a folder. 2. Drag individual files out of the zip window and drop them wherever you want. ## Adding Files to an Existing Zip 1. Double-click the .zip file to open it. 2. Drag additional files into the zip window. ## Password-Protected Zips Windows cannot create password-protected zip files natively. To create encrypted zip files, you need a third-party tool like 7-Zip (free and open source). Windows can open some password-protected zip files but may prompt for the password. ## Troubleshooting **"The compressed (zipped) folder is invalid":** The zip file may be corrupted. Try downloading it again or ask the sender to resend it. **Files not extracting:** Make sure you are extracting the zip, not just opening it. If you double-click a zip and try to run a program from inside it, it may not work correctly. Always extract first. **Large zip files:** Windows handles zip files well up to a few GB. For very large archives, 7-Zip handles them more reliably.