Compress-Archive

Reference

Module:: Microsoft.PowerShell.Archive

Creates a compressed archive, or zipped file, from specified files and folders.

Syntax

Compress-Archive
        [-Path] <String[]>
        [-DestinationPath] <String>
        [-CompressionLevel <String>]
        [-WhatIf]
        [-Confirm]
        [<CommonParameters>]

Compress-Archive
        [-Path] <String[]>
        [-DestinationPath] <String>
        [-CompressionLevel <String>]
        [-Update]
        [-WhatIf]
        [-Confirm]
        [<CommonParameters>]

Compress-Archive
        [-Path] <String[]>
        [-DestinationPath] <String>
        [-CompressionLevel <String>]
        [-Force]
        [-WhatIf]
        [-Confirm]
        [<CommonParameters>]

Compress-Archive
        -LiteralPath <String[]>
        [-DestinationPath] <String>
        [-CompressionLevel <String>]
        [-Update]
        [-WhatIf]
        [-Confirm]
        [<CommonParameters>]

Compress-Archive
        -LiteralPath <String[]>
        [-DestinationPath] <String>
        [-CompressionLevel <String>]
        [-Force]
        [-WhatIf]
        [-Confirm]
        [<CommonParameters>]

Compress-Archive
        -LiteralPath <String[]>
        [-DestinationPath] <String>
        [-CompressionLevel <String>]
        [-WhatIf]
        [-Confirm]
        [<CommonParameters>]

Description

The Compress-Archive cmdlet creates a compressed, or zipped, archive file from one or more specified files or folders. An archive packages multiple files, with optional compression, into a single zipped file for easier distribution and storage. An archive file can be compressed by using the compression algorithm specified by the CompressionLevel parameter.

The Compress-Archive cmdlet uses the Microsoft .NET API System.IO.Compression.ZipArchive to compress files. The maximum file size is 2 GB because there's a limitation of the underlying API.

Some examples use splatting to reduce the line length of the code samples. For more information, see about_Splatting.

Examples

Example 1: Create an archive file

This example creates a new archive file, Draft.zip, by compressing two files, Draftdoc.docx and diagram2.vsd, specified by the Path parameter. The compression level specified for this operation is Optimal.

$compress = @{
Path= "C:\Test\Reference\Draftdoc.docx", "C:\Test\Reference\Images\diagram2.vsd"
CompressionLevel = "Optimal"
DestinationPath = "C:\Test\Archives\Draft.Zip"
}
Compress-Archive @compress

Example 2: Create an archive file using LiteralPath

This example creates a new archive file, Draft.zip, by compressing two files, Draft doc.docx and Diagram [2].vsd, specified by the LiteralPath parameter. The compression level specified for this operation is Optimal.

$compress = @{
LiteralPath= "C:\Test\Reference\Draft Doc.docx", "C:\Test\Reference\Images\Diagram [2].vsd"
CompressionLevel = "Optimal"
DestinationPath = "C:\Test\Archives\Draft.Zip"
}
Compress-Archive @compress

Example 3: Create an archive with wildcard characters

This example creates a new archive file, Draft.zip, in the C:\Archives folder. The new archive file contains every file, folder, and subfolder in the C:\Reference root folder, because an asterisk (*) wildcard character was used in place of specific file names in the Path parameter. The root folder, Reference, is excluded from the archive.

Compress-Archive -Path C:\Reference\* -CompressionLevel Fastest -DestinationPath C:\Archives\Draft

Notice that the file name extension .zip wasn't added to the value of the DestinationPath parameter. PowerShell appends the .zip extension to the file name automatically. The specified compression level is Fastest. The faster compression level will compress large numbers of files faster, but might result in a larger output file.

Note

To zip only the files in the specified root folder, use the star-dot-star (*.*) wildcard.

Example 4: Update an existing archive file

This example updates an existing archive file, Draft.Zip, in the C:\Archives folder.

Compress-Archive -Path C:\Reference\* -Update -DestinationPath C:\Archives\Draft.Zip

The command is run to update Draft.Zip with newer versions of existing files that came from the C:\Reference folder, and also to add new files that have been added to C:\Reference since Draft.Zip was initially created.

Example 5: Create an archive from an entire folder

This example creates an archive from an entire folder, C:\Reference. The archive contains the root folder, Reference, and all its files, folders, and subfolders.

Compress-Archive -Path C:\Reference -DestinationPath C:\Archives\Draft

Notice that the file name extension .zip wasn't added to the value of the DestinationPath parameter. PowerShell appends the .zip extension to the file name automatically.

Parameters

-CompressionLevel

Specifies how much compression to apply when you're creating the archive file. Faster compression requires less time to create the file, but can result in larger file sizes.

If this parameter isn't specified, the command uses the default value, Optimal.

The acceptable values for this parameter are as follows:

Fastest. Use the fastest compression method available to reduce processing time. Faster compression can result in larger file sizes.
NoCompression. Doesn't compress the source files.
Optimal. Processing time is dependent on file size.

Type:	String
Accepted values:	Optimal, NoCompression, Fastest
Position:	Named
Default value:	Optimal
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-Confirm

Prompts you for confirmation before running the cmdlet.

Type:	SwitchParameter
Aliases:	cf
Position:	Named
Default value:	False
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-DestinationPath

Specifies the path to the archive output file. This parameter is required. The specified DestinationPath value should include the desired name of the output zipped file, and specifies either the absolute or relative path to the zipped file. If the file name specified in DestinationPath doesn't have a .zip file name extension, the cmdlet adds a .zip file name extension.

Type:	String
Position:	1
Default value:	None
Required:	True
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-Force

Forces the command to run without asking for user confirmation.

Type:	SwitchParameter
Position:	Named
Default value:	False
Required:	True
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-LiteralPath

Specifies the path or paths to the files that you want to add to the archive zipped file. Unlike the Path parameter, the value of LiteralPath is used exactly as it's typed. No characters are interpreted as wildcards. If the path includes escape characters, enclose each escape character in single quotation marks, to instruct PowerShell not to interpret any characters as escape sequences. To specify multiple paths, and include files in multiple locations in your output zipped file, use commas to separate the paths.

Type:	String[]
Aliases:	PSPath
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	True
Accept pipeline input:	True
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-Path

Specifies the path or paths to the files that you want to add to the archive zipped file. This parameter can accept wildcard characters. Wildcard characters allow you to add all files in a folder to your zipped archive file. To specify multiple paths, and include files in multiple locations in your output zipped file, use commas to separate the paths.

To zip all the files, folders, and subfolders in a specified root folder, use the asterisk (*) wildcard. The root folder is excluded from the archive.

For example:

-Path C:\Reference\*

To zip only the files in the specified root folder, use the star-dot-star (*.*) wildcard.

For example:

-Path C:\Reference\*.*

Type:	String[]
Position:	0
Default value:	None
Required:	True
Accept pipeline input:	True
Accept wildcard characters:	True

-Update

Updates the specified archive by replacing older file versions in the archive with newer file versions that have the same names. You can also add this parameter to add files to an existing archive.

Type:	SwitchParameter
Position:	Named
Default value:	False
Required:	True
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-WhatIf

Shows what would happen if the cmdlet runs. The cmdlet isn't run.

Type:	SwitchParameter
Aliases:	wi
Position:	Named
Default value:	False
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

Inputs

String

You can pipe a string that contains a path to one or more files.

Outputs

None

Expand-Archive