How to Create a Zip Archive on Mac OS X

Compressing an archive of multiple files drastically reduces the size of the files, which helps with saving space on your Mac and with easy file backup. Using Mac OS X's built-in file compression and contextual menus, you can easily zip multiple files on your computer. Here are a few handy steps that will help you to save space on your computer.

Things You'll Need

• Mac OS X

Instructions

1. 

   In an open Finder window, locate the multiple files you wish to zip compress into an archive.

2. 

   Click and drag your mouse over the multiple files to select all of the files that will be zipped into the archive. You can also use the key command "Command-A" to select all the files or Shift-click to individually select the multiple files.

3. 

   Use a right mouse click or a Ctrl-click on the files to bring up the contextual menu. Drag the mouse to "Compress Items" and release the mouse to compress and zip the files.

4. 

   Once the mouse is released, a new zip archive will be created using the generic "Archive" file name. Click on the file name to rename the file for easier future identification of the archive contents.

5. 

   To compress a folder containing multiple files, right-click your mouse or Ctrl-click on the folder and select "Compress Folder" from the contextual menu to compress and zip the folder.

6. 

   Understand that the new folder archive will use the name of the folder selected with the .zip compression file type identifier appended to the end of the file. You can also rename the zipped folder by single-clicking on the file name.