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When you're ready to decompress a ZIP file, just double-click on it. ZIP file contains the compressed archive. Your original file or folder is untouched the.Once it's done, you'll find a filename that ends in. The Mac will begin to compress the file or folder you've selected.Right-click or control-click on the file to bring up the pop-up menu.Select the file or folder in the Finder.
#HOW TO TURN A FILE ON YOUR DESKTOP INTO A ZIP FILE ON A MAC FOR MAC#
Smith Micro, StuffIt's owner, also makes StuffIt Expander for Mac users who just want to open archives. One of the most historically popular commercial Mac compression apps is called StuffIt - it supports features like encryption and password protection, support for Apple's Automator software and more. There are also third-party utilities that can help you compress and decompress files, too, and they'll work with many non-ZIP formats. You should find out if ZIP archiving will save you enough time and enough space to make it worth your while: You may find that you can save hundreds of gigabytes this way, or you may ultimately decide it's more worth your while to simply buy a large external hard drive instead. Regardless, if you've never compressed a file before, it's worth the experiment.
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But if you have a big archive of, say, images you won't need access to, it can be a handy tool to keep your hard drive from filling up too fast. ZIP archive, which will make it more difficult to view and check its contents.Īs such, I wouldn't recommend using this technique to routinely archive everything on your hard disk. File compression also changes the file type to a.
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Macs with faster processors and more RAM can compress and decompress files much faster than slower Macs.
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