If you need to save hard drive space or send data over the internet, this guide can show you how to compress files using Windows 10.
You’ve probably heard the word “zip” many times before. This is one of the most popular file formats that allows you to compress files to save space on your hard drive or make it easier to send them over the internet.
Today, a lot of third-party software can handle zip compression. Still, if you are running Windows 10, you don’t need to install extra software because the operating system supports zip natively.
In this Windows 10 guide, we will walk you through simple steps to unzip and unzip files and save space on your computer’s hard drive or make sending them easier.
Instructions for compressing files to save hard drive space
To compress files using zip and save hard drive space, follow these steps:
1. Open File Explorer.
2. Navigate to the location with the items you want to compress.
3. Right-click on space, choose New and click Compressed (zipped) Folder.
4. Enter a descriptive name for the folder and press Enter.
5. Select the files and folders you want to compress.
6. Right-click on your selection and choose Cut.
7. Double-click the newly created compressed folder.
8. Right-click on it and select Paste.
You can always add multiple files to the zip folder by repeating steps 5, 6, and 7.
How to compress files to share with others
If you’re trying to compress files to make it easier to send them over the internet, you can do the following:
1. Open File Explorer.
2. Navigate to the location of the items you want to compress.
3. Select the files and folders you want to share.
4. Right-click your selection, choose to Send to, and click the compressed (zipped) folder.
5. Enter a name for the archive and press Enter.
After you complete these steps, you can, for example, attach a zipped folder to an email to share the file with others. After you send an email, you can safely delete the zipped folder because it only contains a copy of your original files.
Alternatively, you can select the items you want to send, and from the Share tab, click the Zip button to compress.
