Then, paste the command into the next open line in Terminal and hit enter. zip -e desiredfilename.zip existingfilename.fileextension gif in the Terminal command-you’ll want to edit this accordingly. For this demonstration, I’m using a gif, so I’m using the file extension.

zip file and the existing name of the existing file. Next, copy the following text and change the names of the. Drag the blue folder icon next to the name into the space on the line next to cd. You’ll then want to open the folder containing the file you’re zipping (for example, Documents or Desktop or Downloads-or, in this case, DOGS). You can most easily start doing this by typing cd into the second line of text.

Next up? Set the destination of the file you wish to compress into a. When you open Terminal to create your secure zip file, you should be presented with a white box with text similar to that displayed in the following screenshot. You’ve got your dog gif and you want to compress.įirst, open your Terminal app-this should be located in your Applications folder. If you’d prefer to skip directly to the easy way (recommended), feel free to skip this section and scroll on down to the next section! First, we’ll walkthrough the hard way, for kicks. There’s an easy way and a hard way to create and password protect a zip file.

While it’s a snap to password protect PDF documents after you’ve created them, you have to simultaneously create and password protect a zip file. Let’s say these adorable dogs are top-secret, and must be password protected. Here’s where things get more complicated. How to Create and Password Protect a Zip File on Mac Then, rename the file to your heart’s content. (You can find it in the same folder as the images or documents you used to create it!) If you’d like, you can double-click to open it to confirm nothing went wrong. To zip a file, all you have to do is highlight the documents or images you wish to bundle and right click > “Compress items”.Īnd presto, you’re done-you’ve created a zip file. Let’s say I want to send them to all my friends, but don’t want to have to send them individually.

To demonstrate, I found some gifs of pretty darn cute dogs. (Check out our email best practices here). Once you know how to zip a file, it’s a quick and easy way to bundle casual, low-stakes materials and send them off to friends, family members, or coworkers. Here’s everything you need to know about how to make, create, zip, and password protect zip files on Mac. Confused about how to create a zip file (or simply how to zip a file)? Struggling to password protect a zip file? Either way, we got you.

How to open a zip file on macbook