Lee este artículo en español.
How to zip multiple files into one (and automate it)
Updated
Short answer: select the files, right-click and choose Compress to → ZIP File (Windows 11), Send to → Compressed (zipped) folder (Windows 10) or Compress (Mac). You end up with a single .zip with everything inside, ready to send. If you have to do it many times a day, see below how to automate it.
You usually need to bundle several files into a .zip for one of these reasons:
- A form leaves you with several loose files (photos, PDFs, documents) and you want to send them all together in one email.
- A workflow generates several documents at once (invoice, delivery note, receipt) and they need to go out as a single package.
- You want to store the results of an automated process without dozens of loose files piling up in a folder.
- A system you're uploading to only accepts one file, not ten.
Zip files by hand, step by step
- Windows 11: select the files (Ctrl + click to pick several), right-click → Compress to → ZIP File. On slightly older versions the option is simply called Compress to ZIP file.
- Windows 10: select the files, right-click → Send to → Compressed (zipped) folder.
- Mac: select the files in Finder, right-click (or Control-click) → Compress. A file called "Archive.zip" appears in the same folder.
- iPhone or iPad: in the Files app, tap Select, pick the files and tap … (More) → Compress.
- Android: it depends on each brand's file manager; look for a "Compress" option when you select several files.
To open a .zip, just double-click it (Windows and Mac) or tap it in the Files app on an iPhone.
Does a .zip make files smaller?
A zip puts everything into one file, but it doesn't always make it much smaller. JPG photos, videos and PDFs are already compressed and barely shrink; modern Word and Excel files (.docx and .xlsx) are zips on the inside, so they don't either. Where it really shows is with text files, CSVs and logs, which can end up at a fraction of their size.
When doing it by hand stops working
Doing it by hand a few times is fine. The problem shows up when it repeats many times a day, every time someone fills in a form or an order closes, and there's no one who can keep doing it by hand without it turning into a bottleneck.
Automating it in a single step
With Create a .zip file you send the files, each one with its name and its content, and get back the finished .zip, ready to attach, save, or pass on to the next step in your n8n, Make or Zapier workflow. You can put up to 50 files in the same package, of any type: they don't all need to be PDFs or the same format, you can mix images, spreadsheets and documents in the same zip.
The only requirement for each file is its name: it can't start with / or contain .. as part of the path. That's a security measure so the resulting .zip can't "escape" the folder it gets extracted into, which matters especially when the file names come from a form anyone can fill in.
What you get back
Unlike most other Cofferdock tools, you don't need to ask for anything special here: by default you get the .zip file itself, ready to use. If your workflow prefers to keep working with base64 inside a JSON (say, to pass it on to another step without saving an intermediate file), just request it with "output": "json" and it comes back that way instead.
The price doesn't depend on how many files you pack in: 1 zip generated = 1 credit, whether it holds 2 files or 50.
When automating it actually pays off
If it's a one-off, occasional file, compressing it by hand is faster. Where this makes a real difference is in processes that repeat: every form submission, every order that closes, every daily report, every batch of photos a client uploads. Once "compress it and send it" stops being occasional and starts happening every hour, automating it stops being a nice-to-have and starts saving real time.
Keep the package organized
Use descriptive names for each file inside the zip (with a date, order number, or whatever identifies the case), instead of leaving generic names like file1.pdf. That way whoever receives the zip knows what's inside just by glancing at the list, without opening every file one by one. And watch out for reusing the same name twice in the same package: one would overwrite the other.
FAQ
How do I zip several files on Windows? Select the files, right-click and choose Compress to → ZIP File on Windows 11, or Send to → Compressed (zipped) folder on Windows 10.
Does zipping make files smaller? It depends on the type. Photos, videos, PDFs and Word or Excel documents barely shrink because they're already compressed; text, CSVs and logs shrink a lot.
Can I mix different file types in the same zip? Yes. Up to 50 files of any type in the same package: PDFs, images, spreadsheets, whatever you need.
How much does it cost to zip a lot of files at once? The same as zipping a few: 1 credit per zip generated, no matter how many files it holds.
What format does the result come back in? By default, the .zip file itself, ready to save or attach. If you'd rather get it as base64 inside a JSON, just ask for that instead.
Why does it require a specific format for each file name? For security: the name can't start with / or contain .. as part of the path, so the zip can't break out of the folder it's extracted into. With normal names like invoice.pdf you won't have to think about this at all.
Related guides
Try these tools
You'll find the full instructions for Create a .zip file, with examples for n8n, Make and your own code. And if you don't have an account yet, you can create one for free.