How To Zip Files Using Javascript

Zipping files using JavaScript can be a handy trick when you need to compress multiple files into a single archive. This can save storage space and make it easier to share and transfer several files at once. In this article, we will walk you through a simple guide on how to zip files using JavaScript.

To achieve this task, we will take advantage of a popular JavaScript library called JSZip. JSZip allows you to create, read, and edit .zip files using JavaScript effortlessly. To get started, you need to include the JSZip library in your project. You can do this by either downloading the library and linking it to your HTML file or using a content delivery network (CDN) to include it.

Next, let's dive into the code. First, create a new instance of JSZip by invoking the JSZip constructor as follows:

var zip = new JSZip();

This line initializes a new Zip object that will hold the files you want to compress. Now that we have our Zip object set up, we can add files to it. To add a file, you'll need to read the file contents using the FileReader API, which provides asynchronous file reading capabilities in JavaScript. Here's an example of how you can add a file to the Zip object:

fetch('file.txt')
    .then(response => response.blob())
    .then(blob => {
        zip.file('file.txt', blob);
    });

In this snippet, we fetch the file named `file.txt` using the fetch API. Once we have the file content as a blob, we use the `file` method of the zip object to include the file in the .zip archive. You can repeat this step for each file you want to add to the archive.

After you've added all the desired files to the Zip object, it's time to generate the compressed .zip file. To do this, call the generateAsync method on the Zip object like so:

zip.generateAsync({ type: "blob" })
    .then(function (content) {
        saveAs(content, "archive.zip");
    });

The `generateAsync` method generates the .zip file in the specified format (in this case, blob). It returns a promise that resolves with the archived content. We then use the FileSaver.js library, which provides a saveAs function to save the file locally. In this case, we save the compressed file as `archive.zip`.

And that's it! You've successfully zipped files using JavaScript with the help of the JSZip library. Feel free to explore more features of JSZip and customize the zipping process to suit your specific needs. Zipping files using JavaScript can be a powerful tool in your web development arsenal, enabling you to efficiently handle file compression tasks directly in the browser. Happy coding!