ZIP files when you need to keep them together.

Windows lets you ZIP files. A ZIP file is a file that contains other files. The ZIPping process also compresses the files it contains. If you want to send four files at 3 MB each, you’re looking at 12 MB in sum. Adding these to an e-mail would yield unpredictable results. ZIPping them and getting the combined file size under 10 MB would let you send them via e-mail more reliably.

How it looks.

Daphne manages an office in Folsom, California. Her company also has offices in Washington, Oregon and Nevada. She maintains budgets and sales forecasts for each. She uses spreadsheets that are specific to each office. The CEO asks her to send these spreadsheets via e-mail. He wants to download them on his notebook computer and read them while on a plane.

Daphne creates an e-mail. She adds the spreadsheets for all four offices and clicks Send. She receives a message that the attachments are too big. Daphne must remove at least one to get the total attachment size under 10 MB.

Daphne reviews MDTech’s YouTube video. She creates a ZIP file and calls it NationalForecasts.zip. In it, she includes the spreadsheets for Washington, Oregon, Nevada and California. She checks the file size and learns that the ZIP file is only 7.3 MB. This will transmit via e-mail with no drama. Daphne attaches this ZIP file to her message and clicks Send. The CEO replies within three minutes, “Thanks Daphne. I got the ZIP, opened it to view the files and have the info I need.”

Your takeaway.

In conclusion, Windows’ ZIP feature lets you create a single file that contains others. This helps you keep them organized and also compresses them. This compression is sometimes necessary, especially when sending large data files via e-mail. Explore the ZIP feature and the embedded video.