Guide
How to create and open ZIP files on Windows
Windows has had ZIP built in since Windows XP, so you do not need to install anything. Here is how it works in Windows 11 and Windows 10 — and the three places Windows behaves differently from what people expect.
How to create a ZIP file
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1
Select the files and folders you want to pack. Hold Ctrl while clicking to choose several, or press Ctrl + A for everything in the folder.
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Right-click the selection. In Windows 11 choose «Compress to ZIP file». In Windows 10 it is called «Send to», then «Compressed (zipped) folder».
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The archive lands in the same folder. The name field is already open, so type the name straight away — otherwise the archive inherits the name of the file you right-clicked.
How to open a ZIP file
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Double-click the ZIP file. Windows shows the contents as an ordinary folder, without extracting anything yet.
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If you only need one file, drag it straight out of the window. If you are going to use everything, right-click the ZIP file and choose «Extract all».
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Choose where the files should end up. Windows suggests a new folder with the same name as the archive, and that suggestion is usually what you want.
Windows does not open password-protected ZIP files
This surprises many people, and it applies to both Windows 10 and Windows 11. File Explorer will happily show the file names inside the archive, but stops with an error the moment you try to extract. Windows 11 gained built-in support for RAR, 7z and TAR in 2023 — but password-protected archives were not included.
To open a locked archive on Windows, you need a separate program such as 7-Zip, WinRAR or PeaZip. It is worth knowing the other way round too: if you create a password-protected archive, your recipient may not be able to open it.
Opening is not the same as extracting
When you double-click your way into a ZIP file and start a document from there, it runs from a temporary folder. If you edit and save, the changes can disappear without warning — they were saved somewhere Windows clears away.
The rule is simple: if you only want a look, stay inside the archive. If you are going to work with the files, extract first.
Accented names can come out wrong for the recipient
Windows’ own ZIP writer does not always mark the file names as UTF-8. As long as the archive is opened on another Windows machine, it is fine. Opened on a Mac or on Linux, an accented name can come out as something else entirely.
If you send archives to someone who does not use Windows, sticking to the letters a to z in file names is cheap insurance.
Or do it straight in the browser
The tools here on Zipfile run on your own machine. The files are not uploaded anywhere, and you do not need to install a program to get started.
Questions and answers
Do I need WinZip or 7-Zip?
Not for ordinary ZIP files. Windows creates and opens them itself. You need a separate program in three cases: password-protected archives, archives split across several files, and formats Windows does not know. 7-Zip is free and open source, and covers all three.
Why is the archive the same size as the files?
Because the content is already compressed. Images in JPG and PNG, video, music and PDF are packed in advance, and packing them again gives nothing. It is text, spreadsheets, source code and databases that shrink — there it is not unusual for the archive to end up a tenth of the original.
Can I password-protect a ZIP file in Windows?
Not with Windows’ own tools. The right-click menu gives you no password option, and File Explorer cannot open an archive that is already locked either. You need 7-Zip or WinRAR for both. Remember that the recipient must have such a program too.
What is the difference between ZIP, RAR and 7z?
ZIP is the oldest and the only one everyone can open without extra software. 7z usually packs harder, but requires 7-Zip at the other end. RAR is a closed format that costs money to create archives in, even though opening them is free. If someone else is going to open the file, ZIP is almost always the right choice.
Is there a limit to how large a ZIP file can be?
The old ZIP format stopped at 4 GB, but the ZIP64 extension removed that limit long ago. Windows supports ZIP64, so in practice free disk space sets the limit. The tools here on Zipfile also handle archives over 4 GB.