In addition to support for a wide range of archive formats (including ZIP, ZIPX, RAR (extraction only), 7z, TAR, GZIP, VHD and XZ), WinZip offers integration with a number of programs including Office for easy zipping as you work. Ultimately it depends on your priorities, but you do get a lot of extras for your money. However, you may wonder if you can justify spending money on a compression tool when there are so many free alternatives available. One of the most famous names in the world of software utilities, WinZip (opens in new tab) is still going strong after nearly 30 years, and is still one of the best file compression tools around. Here we take a look at a selection of the best tools, taking into account ones that offer the highest compression rates, and those that support the largest number of file types. You never know which type you may encounter when downloading and sharing files, so it makes sense to have a program on hand that can handle more than one type.

The most commonly used compression format is ZIP, but there are various other available. Perhaps the best feature of compression tools is the ability to encrypt files and protect them with a password – something you'll find in all the tools we've picked here. That's not all – in addition to reducing file sizes, compression software offers plenty of extra features to take into consideration.

The ever-growing size of hard drives means the need to reduce file sizes when storing data has been reduced, but SDDs still cost significantly more per gigabyte than traditional spinning hard drives, so compressing files can still be very useful.Ĭompression is also very helpful when you want to send several files via email and keep them within the attachment size limit, share them via a service like WeTransfer, or send them to a remote cloud server. With the right file compression software, sharing and archiving files is easy.

Best free zip software 2015