Windows 10 has a built-in file compression tool by default. It allows you to zip a file or a large chunk of files and folders into a single zip folder without the need of installing any third party software. This short tutorial will show you how to quickly zip any number of files and folders in Windows 10 with just a few clicks.
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How to Zip a File or Folder in Windows 10
In the directory where the files and folders you want to zip are located, follow the steps below to zip them up.
Step 1: Highlight the file(s) or folder(s) you wish to compress.
Step 2: Right-click on the highlighted files and folders, then mouse hover onto “Send to” and select “Compressed (zipped) folder“.
Step 3: Windows 10 will now compress all your selected files and folders into a single zip folder onto the directory where the items were highlighted. For example, if these items are on your desktop when you zip them, the zipped folder will also be created in the desktop directory.
Note: You can compress as many files or folders (or a combination of files and folders) as you want as long as they are highlighted together for the compression.
The name of the created zipped folder will, by default, be the name of the first file among the files and folders you have selected. You can change the zip folder’s name by right-clicking it and then select Rename.
How to Unzip a .zip folder
To unzip a zipped folder, simply right-click the zipped folder, and then select Extract all. Note that doing this will extract all the files and folders onto the directory where the zipped folder is stored.
Alternatively, you can browse into the zipped folder directly (by double-clicking it to open the folder). Copy any files or folders you want and then paste them elsewhere.
This can only be done only on “.zip” folder without password protected if you do not have any third party compression software installed. The default Windows 10 built-in compression tool doesn’t work on other compression extension such as “.rar” or “.7z”.
How to zip a file with password
The built-in zip compression tool in Windows 10 doesn’t have password compression feature. To zip files with password to protect them, you will need a third party compression software such as WinRAR, WinZip or 7zip.
Example password compression using WinRAR
WinRAR, WinZip and 7zip are the 3 most popular file compression software for Windows users. Other than the password protected compression feature, they have much better compression method to further reduce the size of your files and folders. You can do a lot more with your zip files and folders with these software if you don’t mind the hassles of installing them.
