How To Compress A File To Zip/Rar And Encrypt With A Password

Hello to you and welcome to technology sage website. ZIP files. We always come across these kinds of files many times in our day to day life. Have you ever wondered how they are created? I am going to show you how to compress a file to zip/Rar and encrypt with a password.

Also read: How to lock PDF documents with a password

What are Zip or Rar Files?

Zip or Rar files are documents, which may include 1 file to multiple files compressed together to form one file called a zip file or a rar file. A document or documents can be compressed into a zip format or a rar format depending on how the person wants it to be compressed. Documents are compressed for better storage because it reduces the size of the original document to a sizable zip or file document that can be kept or shared with other people. Most of these zip/rar files are always shared online. There are several tools used to compress files. But the most effective and well-known one is WINRAR. With Winrar document compressor, you can be able to convert documents into zip or rar formats which can be again extracted or unzipped to get the original files compressed within. You can download WINRAR software here for your 32-bit computer or a 64-bit computer. You can compress and convert to zip or rar virtually any kind of files from music, video, text, PDF, program, apps or just any type of file you want.

How To Compress A File To Zip/Rar And Encrypt With A Password Using Winrar

We are going to learn how to compress a file to zip and encrypt with a password. Why does zip or rar file have passwords? Ok. The most obvious answer would be, for obvious reasons. For security. We actually don’t want other people to see things that are not meant for their eyes. We have documents that are confidential that we would not be OK to let them fall into wrong hands. That is why people compress documents with passwords. Sometimes you will find that files downloaded from the internet come in zip formats encrypted in passwords. It is hard to get documents in zip files encrypted with passwords. Usually, the owner will want you to pay some little fee to have a password that will decrypt the zip file. Now, today I want to teach you How To Compress A File To Zip/Rar And Encrypt With A Password Using Winrar so that you can zip and encrypt files of your own too.

Requirements:

This is just a simple task to do and much is not required. However, you will require the following things listed below:

  • Computer
  • WINRAR tool which you can download here for your computer
  • Files (any) files to compress
  • Computer skills.

Procedure:

Now, having the above-mentioned requirements ready, now let us begin the procedure on How To Compress a File To Zip/Rar And Encrypt With a Password Using Winrar. After you have downloaded and installed WINRAR from the link I have provided, create a folder on the desktop and give it a name of your own choice. Open your newly created folder. Now, it is time to choose the files you want to compress. Select any file from your computer, and copy and paste it to the new folder you have created.

Select now all the file(s) you have transferred into your new folder. If it is only one file, it is ok also. Right click on the file(s) you have selected. On the list of options that will appear, select “Add to Archive.” Now, an Archive name and parameters window will show as shown in the screenshot below:

C:\Users\Mr. Priest\Pictures\WINRAR 1.PNG

Now, under “Archive format,” choose any of your choices but for this purpose, we will go for “ZIP” format, a format familiar with many people. On your right, you will also see “Archiving Options” you can choose from. In this case, we are not choosing any of those options.

Now, at this point, if we click the “OK” button below, we will compress our file but without a password. If you wish to compress files just the way they are without any kind of encryption, just choose the archive format whether RAR or ZIP and click ok. But in our case, we want to do both at a go. Below, you will see the “Set Password” button. Click on it to set your password. See the screenshot below.

C:\Users\Mr. Priest\Pictures\WINRAR 2.PNG

Enter your password and click on the “OK” button below to save and compress your document into a zip file encrypted with a password you just set. Now, this will take you back to the Archive name and parameters window. Just click on the ok button below to start the compression process. It might take several seconds to minutes depending on how big the file you are compressing is. Remember to click or check the “Show Password” button to see and confirm the password you are setting. This is because if you set with a wrong password you didn’t intend to, you will not be able to retrieve the file you have compressed. Also, always use passwords you can always remember.

After compression is done, you will see your zip file in the folder as shown below. You can try to unzip or extract it now with the password. Right click on the zip file, the on the options list select “extract to ………”. you will now be prompted to enter the password. Enter the password you used

C:\Users\Mr. Priest\Pictures\winrar3.PNG

After you enter the correct password, your files will be extracted and you can open the extracted folder with the same name in the folder that you created. So, if you decide to share these files, always remember to provide a password to the person you are sharing them with. Without it, they will not be able to access the compressed files. That is it today on how to compress a file to zip/Rar and encrypt with a password.

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I am a tech enthusiast with a passion for all things mobile phones, computers, software, games, and general technology tricks, tweaks & Mods. I pride in sharing this knowledge through blogging.