Compressing a File on Android

The process of making a compressed folder is pretty easy actually. Install and open ZArchiver, then follow the steps below.

Create an Archive

New Folder Compression

If you’re creating a new folder from the “Create” menu, you’ll need to move or copy the files you want to be compressed. Follow the steps listed below:

Extract Files on Android

The decompress process is just as simple when you want to extract files on Android. When there is a file emailed to you or otherwise downloaded to your Android device, you have a few different options. The first option is to view the contents of the compressed archive.

File Types

This is a list showing all of the compatible file types you can compress, view, and decompress. If you notice, there are many not-so-commonly-accessible files on an Android.

Create archive: 7z (7zip), zip, bzip2 (bz2), gzip (gz), XZ, lz4, tar, zst (zstd)Decompress archive types: 7z (7zip), zip, rar, rar5, bzip2, gzip, XZ, iso, tar, arj, cab, lzh, lha, lzma, xar, tgz, tbz, Z, deb, rpm, zipx, mtz, chm, dmg, cpio, cramfs, img (fat, ntfs, ubf), wim, ecm, lzip, zst (zstd), egg, alzView contents: 7z (7zip), zip, rar, rar5, bzip2, gzip, XZ, iso, tar, arj, cab, lzh, lha, lzma, xar, tgz, tbz, Z, deb, rpm, zipx, mtz, chm, dmg, cpio, cramfs, img (fat, ntfs, ubf), wim, ecm, lzip, zst (zstd), egg, alz

Are there any other options?

If you’re only working with RAR or ZIP files, try RAR instead. If you need to compress videos, try one of these options for better compression. If you’re working mainly with PDF files, try these PDF compression tools for mobile devices, Windows, Linux, and macOS. Image credit: Wesley Tingey via Unsplash With the “Create -> New Archive” option, you can select multiple folders to compress into a single archive. For example, if you have a dozen folders in a directory and want to compress five of those folders into a single archive, you’ll have the option to select multiple folders. In short, creating a new archive gives you more flexibility with what you can add. However, all the folders/files must be in the same directory. You can navigate to sub-folders during the selection process. You can also turn this off globally by doing the following: If you need a higher level of compression, opt for “Maximum” or “Ultra.”