Combine multiple files and folders into a single zip archive. Here's how to select and compress multiple items on every platform.

Zip Multiple Files on Windows

Select multiple files

In File Explorer, use these selection methods:

Ctrl+Click — Select individual files one by one
Shift+Click — Select a range of consecutive files
Ctrl+A — Select all files in the current folder
Click and drag — Draw a selection box around files

Multiple files selected in Windows File Explorer

Right-click and zip

Right-click any selected file:

Windows 11: Click "Compress to ZIP file"
Windows 10: Click Send to > Compressed (zipped) folder

Name the archive

All selected files are compressed into one zip file. Type a name and press Enter.

Zip Multiple Files on Mac

Select files in Finder

Use Cmd+Click to select individual files, or Cmd+A to select all files in the folder.

Right-click and choose "Compress X Items"

Right-click (or Control-click) any selected file and choose "Compress [X] Items".

Find Archive.zip

macOS creates an Archive.zip file in the same folder. Rename it as needed.

Zip Multiple Files on Linux

# Zip specific files

zip archive.zip file1.txt file2.pdf file3.jpg

# Zip all .txt files in a directory

zip archive.zip *.txt

# Zip a folder and its contents

zip -r archive.zip my-folder/

# Zip multiple folders

zip -r archive.zip folder1/ folder2/ folder3/

# Zip everything in the current directory

zip -r archive.zip .

Batch Zipping (Advanced)

Need to create a separate zip file for each file or folder? Use these scripts:

Windows (PowerShell)

# Create a separate zip for each file in the current folder

Get-ChildItem -File | ForEach-Object {

Compress-Archive -Path $_.FullName -DestinationPath "$($_.BaseName).zip"

}

# Create a separate zip for each subfolder

Get-ChildItem -Directory | ForEach-Object {

Compress-Archive -Path $_.FullName -DestinationPath "$($_.Name).zip"

}

Mac / Linux (Bash)

# Create a separate zip for each file

for file in *; do zip "${file%.*}.zip" "$file"; done