Where is the Archive Utility?Īrchive Utility is a small app hidden in a system folder. In this article, you’ll learn about compressed files and Archive Utility, and we’ll show you some options you can adjust that will make working with compressed files easier. The Archive Utility app has some options that may make working with archives easier. (For instance, if you sent a hundred text files to someone by email without compressing them, it would be very annoying to receive that many attachments.)Īpple’s macOS uses Archive Utility, a small app hidden away in an obscure folder and used to create and decompress.

Archives also allow you to store a number of files in a single file, making them easier to move around or send to others. zip extension, and contain one or more files that have been shrunk to save space. You certainly see these files often-they bear the.

The files and/or folders will be extracted to the same location as the archive.Apple + How To Understanding Compressed Files and Apple’s Archive UtilityĬompressed files and archives are very common. Unzipping a compressed archive is as easy as double-clicking on the zip file. If you compressed more than one file or folder, the zip archive will be named 'Archive.zip' by default. If you compressed a single file, the zip archive takes the same name and adds a zip extension. Locate the newly created zip file in the same directory as the original files and/or folders.Select Compress or Compress X Items from the contextual dropdown menu.Alternately, drag a selection box over several files and/or folders with your cursor by holding down the left mouse button or pressing down on the trackpad. Right-click (or Control-click) on the file or folder you want to compress.

Click the Finder icon in your Mac's Dock to make sure it's the active application.That's because Apple includes a built-in ability to zip files on your Mac, allowing you to quickly compress single files, groups of files, or entire folders. Whatever your use case, the good news is that there's no need to download additional software to compress files in macOS. People compress or 'zip' electronic files for different reasons – to make them easier to transport electronically, to organize their backups, or to save device storage space, for example.

How do you do a zip file on a mac