How to Zip Files in Google Drive and Delete Identical Files?
Are you looking for a solution to zip files in your Google Drive? Google Drive is one of the most commonly used cloud storage and syncing platforms across the globe. It is enriched with many great features to store, collaborate, edit documents and files. Unfortunately, there is no in-house functionality to compress and extract your zip files.
Delete duplicate compressed files on Google Drive (& other supported cloud drives) using Cloud Duplicate Finder
It becomes a long and tedious task to download files, compress them and re-upload again. It can cost you significant bandwidth if your files are too large in size. Worry not, we’ve some better alternatives to save your time and easily zip files in Google Drive.
Possible Scenarios
Before we head to the solution, let’s discuss some of the possible scenarios why you would need to zip files in Google Drive.
Backup files before editing them in Google Drive
Backing up your data is very crucial. Just like we backup and move files from our hard disks to the cloud, there are situations when you would need to take backups of your cloud files. Let’s see an example: you’re collaborating with different people on a project, and before you share your document with others, you might want to take a backup. When multiple people are collaborating on one file, there is always a possibility that some things might go wrong and you might lose your original data. Of course, there is a way to restore previous versions of a document but a backup shall save you no matter what happens to your original data.
Easily share large files with friends and family
If you’re occasionally sharing files with other people, you may want to zip them first. File compression will save online storage and Internet bandwidth. Large files can cost a significant Internet bandwidth whereas zipped versions are easily downloadable.
Organize your files
Compressing multiple files into a single zip archive will help you better organize them. Let’s take an example: you’re a traveler and your computer is overwhelmed with hundreds of thousands of photos accumulated over so many years. The better way to organize these files is to create multiple zip archives for each new place you explore. Not only will it save your precious storage space, but it’ll also make it easy to locate the right file on time. You’ll find that the search results are with less clutter.
ZIP Files in Google Drive Using Third-party Plugin
ZIP Extractor is a third party solution. It is available for free download on Google Chrome Store. It provides all those file compression features that you would otherwise expect from Google Drive.
With ZIP Extractor, you can open zip files straight inside your Google Drive. You do not need to download the file to view zip contents. You can also extract the contents of the zip files, view the file previews. It enables you to extract individual items from the zip archives. Besides, you can update the zip archive as well.
This handy extension is very useful if your archive is very large, you don’t have the time to download it to your PC just to extract some of its files.
Steps
- Open the Google Chrome browser and login to your Gmail account.
- Visit the Zip Extractor download page on Google Workspace Marketplace.
- Click on Install.
- Gmail will prompt you to approve the necessary permissions. Click Yes if you agreed.
- Open your Google Drive home folder.
- Click on the New icon on the upper left.
- Select More, followed by Zip Extractor.
Selecting ZIP Extractor
- After clicking on Zip Extractor, the extension will open a new tab with multiple zipping options.
Open an existing zip file from Google Drive
- Select the option Open Zip from Google Drive.
- In the new dialog, type the name of your zip file and then click on the Find icon.
- Choose your zip file and click Select to confirm.
Confirming the file
Create a new zip file
- Click on Create New Zip.
- Type a name for your new Zip file.
- Click on Add Files to Zip, and add files from your local hard disk. Use the Add from Drive button to add files stored on your Google Drive.
- To password-protect your zip, click on Add Password. (Optional).
- Click on Save Zip to Drive to proceed.
Delete Identical Zip Files in Google Drive
Scanning your cloud account for duplicate Zip and other files on a regular basis will help you get rid of digital junk, and free-up precious storage. Since Cloud Duplicate Finder is a browser-based application, you’ll need an Internet connection to scan your files. You can run CDF regardless of the operating system and computer device you use.
Here are some of the distinct features of Cloud Duplicate Finder:
- Mass-platform compatibility
- Easy to use, fully automated
- Browser-based. No need to install any software
- Algorithm-based scanning with 100% scan accuracy
- Scan filters to choose your desired file types to scan
- In-house file previewing functionality. You don’t have to download any files to preview
- Automatic files selection in groups. Select multiple files in groups based on different criteria (newest, oldest, files by location, etc)
- Detailed scan history
- Allows you to move duplicates to another folder or the Trash folder
Raza Ali Kazmi works as an editor and technology content writer at Sorcim Technologies (Pvt) Ltd. He loves to pen down articles on a wide array of technology related topics and has also been diligently testing software solutions on Windows & Mac platforms.