I’m new to macOS and I’m trying to send several large files by email, but the upload keeps failing. I’ve heard that zipping files can make them smaller and easier to share, but I’m not sure how to do this on a Mac or which built‑in options or shortcuts I should use. Can someone walk me through the simplest way to zip a file or a folder on macOS, and mention any common mistakes to avoid so I don’t corrupt the files?
On macOS, zipping is built in, so you do not need extra apps to start.
Fast way using Finder:
- Put all files you want to send in one folder.
- Right click that folder.
- Click “Compress ‘FolderName’”.
- macOS creates “FolderName.zip” in the same place.
- Attach that zip file to your email.
To zip several files without a folder:
- Select multiple files in Finder.
- Right click on the selection.
- Click “Compress X items”.
- It creates “Archive.zip”.
- Rename it if you want.
If email still fails:
• Many email services limit attachments to around 20–25 MB.
• If your zip is larger than that, use something like iCloud Drive, Google Drive, or Dropbox.
• Upload the zip there and share a link instead of attaching.
If you want more control, you can use Terminal:
- Open Terminal.
- Run:
zip -r myfiles.zip /path/to/folder - “-r” means it zips the folder and its contents.
Quick size check:
• Right click the zip file.
• Click “Get Info”.
• Look at “Size”.
If compression is small, that is normal for videos, images, PDFs, and already compressed files. Those do not shrink much when zipped.
Couple extra angles to add on top of what @suenodelbosque already covered:
-
Built‑in “Archive Utility” options
macOS actually uses a little app called Archive Utility behind the scenes. You can tweak it a bit:- Open Spotlight and search for “Archive Utility”
- In the menu bar, go to Archive Utility > Settings (or Preferences on older macOS)
- You can change things like:
- Where the zip file is saved
- Whether it automatically opens the folder after compressing
Not life‑changing, but handy if you zip stuff a lot and don’t want the zip to land all over random folders.
-
When zipping really big stuff
If you’re dealing with huge folders (like tens of GBs), Finder compression can feel slow or like it froze. In that case:- Close other heavy apps first
- Wait it out, especially if you see “Compressing…” in the Finder status bar
- Or split the content into a couple of smaller zips (e.g. “Project‑Part1.zip”, “Project‑Part2.zip”)
-
Don’t rely on zipping to solve email limits
This is where I slightly disagree with the usual “just zip it” advice. For most modern file types:- Videos (mp4, mov)
- Photos (jpg, png, heic)
- PDFs
They’re already compressed, so the zip will often be only 5–10% smaller, sometimes almost the same size. So if your email provider caps at ~25 MB and your folder is 200 MB, zipping will not magically fix that.
In that case, the better workflow is:
- Zip the folder so everything stays together and doesn’t lose structure
- Upload that zip to iCloud Drive / Google Drive / Dropbox / OneDrive
- Share the link in your email instead of attaching the file itself
-
Quick “sanity check” trick
Before bothering with upload attempts:- Look at the size of the original stuff
- Compress it
- Compare the two sizes
If the zip is only a tiny bit smaller and still over ~20–25 MB, don’t even waste time trying to attach it to email. Go straight to a cloud share.
-
If you want slightly better compression
The built‑in zip is fine, but not super aggressive. If you really care about squeezing out a bit more space, third‑party tools like Keka or The Unarchiver can sometimes do marginally better, especially with mixed text/code/project folders. Worth it if you’re sending large archives often.
TL;DR: Use Finder like @suenodelbosque described, but treat zipping mainly as a way to bundle files together. For “several large files,” expect to need a cloud link more than relying on compression size savings.