zip

Additional Notes

zip creates ZIP archives, a format widely supported on Linux, macOS, Windows, phones, browsers, and many file managers. Unlike gzip, ZIP can store many files and directories in one archive.

Use zip when sharing files with mixed operating systems, packaging simple project folders, or creating archives that non-Linux users can open easily.

Syntax

zip [options] archive.zip file...
zip [options] archive.zip directory...

Parameters

• archive.zip: ZIP archive to create or update.
• file: File to add to the archive.
• directory: Directory to add, usually with -r.
• options: Flags for recursion, compression, exclusion, encryption, and updates.

Common Options

• -r: Add directories recursively.
• -q: Quiet output.
• -u: Update changed or new files in an existing archive.
• -d: Delete entries from an archive.
• -e: Encrypt the archive with a password prompt.
• -0: Store only, no compression.
• -9: Best compression.
• -x PATTERN: Exclude matching files.

Examples

zip notes.zip notes.txt

Create a ZIP archive containing one file.

zip -r site.zip site/

Archive a directory recursively.

zip -r project.zip project/ -x "*.git*" "node_modules/*"

Create an archive while excluding unwanted paths.

zip -u site.zip site/index.html

Update an existing archive entry.

zip -e private.zip notes.txt

Create an encrypted ZIP archive using an interactive password prompt.

Practical Notes

• Use unzip -l archive.zip to inspect an archive before extracting it.
• Quote exclude patterns so the shell does not expand them too early.
• For Unix permissions, symlinks, and large backup workflows, tar may preserve system details better than ZIP.