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PDFs to ZIP

Package several PDFs into one archive. Free, and runs entirely in your browser — nothing you enter is uploaded, stored or sent to a server.

About PDFs to ZIP

Packages several PDFs into one archive, for sending, filing or uploading as a single item. The files go in unchanged — this is a container, not a conversion.

It will not make them much smaller, and the rows say so. A PDF already compresses its own streams, usually with Flate, so a ZIP of PDFs typically saves a few per cent at best. The reason to make one is that a single attachment is easier to send and impossible to half-download than fifteen separate ones.

Duplicate file names are renamed rather than allowed to collide: two files called invoice.pdf from different folders would otherwise extract as one file in most tools, silently losing the other.

Where it helps

  • One archive from any number of PDFs, made in the browser without an upload.
  • Duplicate names are renamed rather than silently overwritten.
  • Reports how little compression actually achieved, instead of implying a saving that is not there.
  • The files are stored unchanged — what comes out is byte for byte what went in.

Limits

  • PDFs are already compressed, so the archive is usually within a few per cent of the total input size.
  • Folder structure is not preserved; everything lands at the top level of the archive.
  • No password protection on the archive — encrypting a ZIP well is a different problem.
  • The whole set has to fit in a browser tab, which is what the size limit is about.

Frequently asked questions

Why is the ZIP barely smaller?

Because PDF compresses its own content streams. Zipping an already-compressed file finds almost no redundancy — the saving on a set of PDFs is usually one to five per cent, and occasionally the archive is slightly larger.

Can I password-protect the archive?

Not here. ZIP's built-in encryption is weak in its classic form and awkward in its modern one, and a password on the PDFs themselves — which this site can do — protects the documents wherever they end up, not just inside the archive.

Are the PDFs changed in any way?

No. They are stored as they were given, byte for byte.

What if two files have the same name?

The second is renamed with a number before the extension, because a ZIP with duplicate entries extracts as one file in most tools.

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