- Compress A Folder Zip
- Windows Compress A Folder
- Compress A Folder Size
- Compress Folder To Send Via Email
Summary :
What does compressing a file do? Just for freeing up disk space when your disk space is low? Any other functions of file compression? Any negative result brought by it? In this post, MiniTool will explore more functions of compressing a file.
Quick Navigation :
Find and select the files that you will compress and sent via Outlook, right click the files, and then select Send to Compressed (zipped) folder. See screen shot below: 2. Go to the file (s) or folder (s) you want to compress into a ZIP file. If you want to compress multiple files or folders into a ZIP file, then you will need to select all the files or folders you want to compress. You can select multiple files or folders by holding the control key ctrl and clicking on the files or folders.
Speaking of compressing a file, most of us are no strangers to that. Common compressed file formats are .zip, .rar, .7z, .tar, etc.
![Compress Compress](https://www.pstwalker.com/assets/images/products/pstwalker/how-to-recover-permanently-deleted-emails-and-folders-in-microsoft-outlook/recover-emails-step2.png)
File compression can be date back to about half a century ago. In the 1970s, computer scientists strived to find ways to reduce the file size and they succeeded—searching through computer code by using mathematical algorithms.
With the development of the Internet, the need for creating better compression schemes and reducing the size of files as much as possible keeps climbing.
In today’s post, I would like to talk about “what does a compressing a file do”. What can you benefit from compressing a file? But before showing the advantages of file compression, let’s try to understand “how does file compression work” first. This could help you understand why you enjoy the following benefits after file compression.
How Does File Compression Work?
What is file compression? File compression is the act of reducing the size of a file while preserving the original data. When you execute file expression, the compressed files often take up 50% to 90% less disk space than the original files. So, compressing a file will retrieve the space on a storage drive.
Why does a file become smaller after compression? Do you know the working principle of file compression? File compression utilizes compression algorithm that is a mathematical formula used in compression and decompression of an electronic data file. There are two types of compression algorithm:
Lossless: By this type of file compression, a decompressed file has the same size as the original file. Stated another way, there is no detail or content lost in the compression-decompression process and you can perfectly reconstruct the original file. But how does this type of file compression reduce file size?
Compress A Folder Zip
Simply put, lossless compression stores the same information in a more efficient way by removing redundancy. For example, uuuuummmmoooooo can be shortened as u5m4o6.
The common lossless format includes PNG for images, FLAC for audio, and ZIP. There are rare lossless formats for video since they would take up massive amounts of space.
Lossy: By this type of file compression, a decompressed file is smaller in size than the original file. That’s because lossy compression reduces file size by removing unnecessary bits of information. This compression type is most common in the image, video, and audio formats, where a perfect representation of the source media is not necessary. MP3 and JPEG are two popular formats for these types of media using lossy compression.
Tip: Do you want to reduce video size? If so, read the post.
Further reading:
Should I use lossless or lossy compression? This depends on what you are using the files for. In general, if you desire a perfect copy of the source material, you should use lossless compression; while it is wise to use lossless compression when a copy of the source material is good enough even if it is imperfect.
Can I convert lossless formats to lossy or lossy format to lossless? It is fine to convert lossless formats to lossy, whereas converting lossy formats to lossless is simply a waste of time. Why? When you compress using the lossy compression, unnecessary information is taken out. Therefore, when you try to convert that file to lossless format, none of that removed data will be redeemed.
What Does Compressing a File Do – Positive
The advantages of file compression:
- Free up disk space;
- Improve transmission speed;
- Optimize backup storage;
- Improve file integrity;
- Send files via email more easily;
- Secure files;
- Save money.
Free up Disk Space
When it comes to compressing files, the first benefit coming across our mind is freeing up disk space. In fact, when you really need free disk space, you can try file compression. However, you should know that you will spend more time opening and closing a compressed file because there is a decompression-and-compression process.
To avoid time waste, you can check what files are taking up too much disk space; think about “how often you use them”; you can compress them if they are rarely to use.
How to analyze your disk usage with ease? Here it is highly recommended that you try MiniTool Partition Wizard. This software is a good space analyzer and can also help you resize a drive whose space is dying out.
Step 1: Download MiniTool Partition Wizard by clicking the above button. Install it and then launch it to get its main interface.
Step 2: On the main interface, activate Space Analyzer on the toolbar and then choose the drive that is in red in File Explorer from the drop-down menu and then click the Scan button.
Step 3: Wait for a phrase of time and then you will see which files take up much disk space.
Note: If there are some unnecessary large files, you can right-click it and choose Delete to remove it from the drive to get free space.
Once you find out the files which take up much disk space, you can compress them by using the file compression utilities or NTFS compression. Once you free up drive space with file compression, your database performance will be improved. Compressing files can close memory gaps and reduce the time needed to locate data on a drive.
Tip: In Windows operating system (like Windows 10), there is an option Enable file and folder compression in Disk Management that you can use to compress a file.
Improve Transmission Speed
Compressing a file can also make it easier to transfer over the internet. As we know, the amount of time it takes to send something over the Internet depends on the size of the transmitted file. Compressed files contain fewer bits of data than uncompressed files. Therefore, it would take one-tenth time to transmit a compressed text file as it would take to transmit that same uncompressed file.
![Compress Compress](https://www.wikihow.com/images/2/2d/Compress-Large-Files-Step-26.jpg)
That’s why compressing larger files before sending them over the Internet can help you save considerable time. Plus, compressing files can also reduce the financial cost of running a network due to that you do not need to buy more equipment and bandwidth to transmit the data.
Optimize Backup Storage
A good compression strategy can support an effective backup plan. Take Zip backup for example. Zip backup is a method of reducing storage size used for data copies. In other words, you can optimize backup storage by compressing some backups to Zip files.
Improve File Integrity
Have you ever encountered that your uncompressed files became corrupt when sent over the web? This might happen. To avoid file corruption, you can compress a file you want to send to others over the web first, since zipped files can preserve the integrity of your files and make sure your data goes uncorrupted.
Send Email over the Internet More Easily
The most common email systems have a limitation for how large a file you can send through them. However, compression offers a way to send multiple files collectively, instead of one by one, as you can zip many files into an archive. So, the fifth advantage of file compressing is that you can more easily upload compressed files to a webpage or sending them via email.
Secure Files
Compressing files can ensure that the stored files are secure as file compression can hide information. Not all computers can read the information that is stored compressed files and list them in a file index. This can be quite useful if an Internet server contains information that is should not be accessed by the public, especially if the file compression method is not reversible by commonly used computer software.
The purpose of this article is to give you 5 tips on protecting your data privacy and the data saved on your hard drive effectively.
Windows Compress A Folder
Save Money
Compressing files can help you save money. The costs of storing your data are reduced by compressing files for storage. You will not need to purchase the extra hard drive if you compress files to 50% of their uncompressed size. But keep in your mind that you can try file compression if you really need free disk space.
You can also save your Internet download charge if you download compressed files. Many contracts with Internet Service Provider (ISP) include charges for the amount of data that you download. Therefore, if you download compressed files, the data in those files reduce and the charge also reduces.
Let’s see the last benefit of compressing files. There is a close relationship between digital television and file compression technology. The former owns its adoption to the latter. Do you know why digital television signal takes up much less bandwidth than an analog signal (adopted by the earlier analog television)? The reason is that digital files are compressed before they are transmitted.
What Does Compressing a File Do – Negative
Absolutely, there is no perfect thing in the world. Compressing a file can also bring about the following troubles.
Low Computer Memory.
When you decompress a file for reading, your computer uses more memory to complete the task. This may cause your computer to pause. What’s worse, you may run into some errors (Low Resources or Out of Memory) if your computer does not have enough memory.
To avoid these errors, you should close the applications running in the background and then open the compressed files.
Time Wasting When Decompressing Files
The decompressing process time varies due to file size and the method used to compress the file. When you want to access a compressed file quickly, there might be a disadvantage.
Larger File Size After Compression
In some situations, the file (including compressing video and audio files) become larger in size than the original file. Here take Zip for example. Zip has a method for that which will just store the file if it can’t be compressed, which means that the file will be bit longer due to the headers and checksums.
Viruses and Malware Hiding in Compressed Files
If your compressed files contain viruses and other malware, your computer might in danger as your computer’s anti-virus may fail to scam such files for viruses and other malware.
If you receive compressed files from unknown sources, you should do a complete scan with an antivirus program that is able to scan the files and then decompress them.
Is antivirus necessary for Windows 10/8/7 to keep your PC safe? Read this post to get the answer, and you can also know some ways to prevent malware.
Bottom Line
What does compressing a file do? We can enjoy 8 benefits from file compression but also will face 4 problems brought by file compression. If you still have some questions about file compression, please leave them below to let us know. If you run into some issues when analyzing disk space or extending partition, please contact us via [email protected].
What Does Compressing a File Do FAQ
File compression is the act of reducing the size of a file while preserving the original data. When you execute file expression, the compressed files often take up 50% to 90% less disk space than the original files.
- Save disk space;
- Improve transmission speed;
- Optimize backup storage;
- Improve file integrity;
- Send files via email over the Internet more easily;
- Secure files;
- Save money.
Lossy compression, one type of file compression, is most commonly used to compress audio, video, and images by removing unnecessary bits of information from these files.
It is highly recommended that you should not compress your system drive. The reason is displayed in Should You Select 'Disk Cleanup Compress Your OS Drive'.
How to attach a folder in an email message in Outlook?
Normally it is easy to attach one file at a time in a composing email message with the Attach File feature. But is there a tricky method to attach all files in one folder, or attach the whole folder in an email message? Yes! We will introduce you some tricks to attach all files in one folder, or the whole folder in an email message in Outlook quickly.
Office Tab - Enable Tabbed Editing and Browsing in Office, and Make Work Much Easier...
Kutools for Outlook - Brings 100 Powerful Advanced Features to Microsoft Outlook
- Auto CC/BCC by rules when sending email; Auto Forward Multiple Emails by rules; Auto Reply without exchange server, and more automatic features...
- BCC Warning - show message when you try to reply all if your mail address is in the BCC list; Remind When Missing Attachments, and more remind features...
- Reply (All) With All Attachments in the mail conversation; Reply Many Emails at once; Auto Add Greeting when reply; Auto Add Date&Time into subject...
- Attachment Tools: Auto Detach, Compress All, Rename All, Auto Save All... Quick Report, Count Selected Mails, Remove Duplicate Mails and Contacts...
- More than 100 advanced features will solve most of your problems in Outlook 2010-2019 and 365. Full features 60-day free trial.
Attach a folder with inserting all files as attachment in this folder
Actually the Attach File feature can help you attach all files in a folder in composing email messages quickly.
Step 1: Create a new email message:
Step 1: Create a new email message:
- In Outlook 2007, click the File > New > Mail Message.
- In Outlook 2010 and 2013, please click the New Email button in the New group on the Home tab.
Step 2: In the Message window, please click the Attach File button in the Include group on the Insert tab.
Step 3: In the Insert File dialog box, search for the folder you will attach and open it. And then select all files in this folder.
Note: You can press the Ctrl key and A key simultaneously to select all files in this folder.
Or you can select all files in this folder by holding the Shift key and clicking the first file and the last one.
Step 4: Click the Insert button.
Then all files in the selected folder are inserted in the composing email messages as attachments. See the following screen shot:
Note: If there are sub-folders in the selected folder, these sub-folders won’t be attached in the composing email message at all. That’s meaning this method works fine with folders without sub-folders.
Attach a folder in an email message with Mail Recipient feature
Another method to attach all files in a folder in an email messages is with the Send to Mail recipient feature.
Step 1: Find out the folder which you will attach in an email message in your computer.
Step 2: Right click the folder, and then click the Send to > Mail recipient in the right-clicking menu.
Then all files in this folder will be attached into a new opening email message as attachments. Click to see the screen shot.
Note: If there are sub-folders in the selected folder, these sub-folders won’t be attached in the new opening email messages.
Attach a folder in an email message with Compress (Zipped) folder feature
If you need to attach a folder with sub-folders, you’d better to try this Send to Compress (Zipped) folder feature.
Step 1: Find out the folder which you will attach in an email message in your computer.
Step 2: Right click the folder, and then click the Send to > Compress (zipped) folder in the right-clicking menu.
Step 3: Give the new compressed .zip file a new name.
Step 4: Select and right click the new compress file, and then click the Send to > Mail recipient in the right-clicking menu.
Then the new compressed file of the selected folder is inserted in the new opening email message as an attachment. See the screen shot:
Then the new compressed file of the selected folder is inserted in the new opening email message as an attachment. See the screen shot:
Kutools for Outlook - Brings 100 Advanced Features to Outlook, and Make Work Much Easier!
- Auto CC/BCC by rules when sending email; Auto Forward Multiple Emails by custom; Auto Reply without exchange server, and more automatic features...
- BCC Warning - show message when you try to reply all if your mail address is in the BCC list; Remind When Missing Attachments, and more remind features...
- Reply (All) With All Attachments in the mail conversation; Reply Many Emails in seconds; Auto Add Greeting when reply; Add Date into subject...
- Attachment Tools: Manage All Attachments in All Mails, Auto Detach, Compress All, Rename All, Save All... Quick Report, Count Selected Mails...
- Powerful Junk Emails by custom; Remove Duplicate Mails and Contacts... Enable you to do smarter, faster and better in Outlook.
or post as a guest, but your post won't be published automatically.
Compress A Folder Size
Loading comment... The comment will be refreshed after 00:00.
Compress Folder To Send Via Email
- To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.Ken below has it right! Programmes written by 9 year olds
- To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.This is NOT a method to simply attached a folder in an email, its is simply a method so 'select all' flies in a folder to attach as individual files, or create a zip folder.
Stunning that the developers of an office program cant see the need and value in simply attaching an already existing folder to an email. The people that create this software clearly dont use it in an office environment.- To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.there is a method as described clearly above. Send a zip folder.