Zipping your files allows you to compress them and reduce their size. This is especially helpful when dealing with multiple files or even files of large size. This also improves overall file transfer speed when you’re moving your files as well. And when you’re done with the transfer, you’ll also need to unzip the files, so you can use them again.
In this article, you’ll learn how to zip and unzip your Windows files. So let’s get started.
How to zip files on Windows 10 or Windows 11
Windows comes with an in-built method to zip your files. First, locate the file or folder. After you find the file, right-click on it and select the Compress to ZIP file option.
A new compressed file with the same name will be created right there. You can now move the compressed file around more quickly than the original version. Although we’ve only mentioned files, the process is pretty much the same for a folder as well.
Unzipping a file on Windows
Find the zipped file or folder, right-click on it, and then select the Extract All… option. A new dialog box will pop open. From there, select the destination folder and click on Extract.
Alternatively, open the unzipped folder and drag out the files or folders to a new location. Your files will be unzipped automatically.
Zipping or unzipping your files on Windows 10 or Windows 11
Hopefully, this guide has helped you learn how to zip and unzip your Windows files and folders. Although there are other ways to do the same, for example, by using third-party apps like WinRAR or 7-Zip. In fact, there’s also WinZip, which has now been a universal Windows app for a while now. We’ve, however, found the in-built Windows tool to be enough for the vast majority of cases.
