Zipping and Unzipping are very popular daily operations that are used to compress and decompress files and folders. Even this action is called compressing and decompressing with the popularity of the compression algorithm zip it is also called zipping and unzipping. The zip is a popular compression algorithm that is supported and implemented by a lot of different 3rd party applications and tools. Starting with Windows 7 the Microsoft has been decided to implement the zip compressions and unzip decompression natively in Windows operating systems like Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, and related Windows Server versions.
Compress/Zip Windows Files and Folders via File Explorer
Single or multiple files and folders can be compressed or zipped via the File Explorer . The file exploerer is the default and most used way to compress and zip files and folders as it is straightforward. Navigate to the directory where the files you want to compress. Rigth click to the single or multiple files and folders which open a context menu. In the context menu navigate to the Send to and then select the Compressed (zipped) folder like below.
During the compression the following progress bar is displayed which shows the progress of the compressions and the currently compressed file name. Also we can cancel the compression or zipping by clicking to the Cancel button.
After the compressions is completed the compressed file is created with the same name of the folder with the *.zip extension. But the compressed file is named as editable in order to change the name of the compressed file. We can set different name for the comrpessed file or leaves it with current name by just pressing ESC or clicking somewhere in the file explorer.
Add Files and Folders To Compressed/Zipped File via File Explorer
New files and folders can be added into the compressed or zipped file in Windows. The file explorer can be used to add new files into compressed or zipped files. Just select the files and folders you want to add and drag and drop onto the compressed/zipped file.
Decompress/UnZip Files and Folders via File Explorer
The Windows operating systems can easily unzip or decompress files. The file explorer can be used to decompress or unzip files. First, click to the compressed or zip file and then click to the Extract All.. button like below which displays the extraction screen.
The following screen provides information about decompression. The destination folder is specified with the same name as the compressed folder by default. But we can change the path or folder name or browse different directories with the Browse.. button. Also the Show extracted files when complete option checkbox can be selected to show extracted files and folders when the extraction is complete.
