How to Zip Audio Files

By Aurelio Locsin

Audio formats such as WAV, MP3 and WMA store all kinds of sound information, from short clips of applause for displaying a website to long tracks of music for preserving the latest song. These multimedia files can take up a lot of storage room, especially if high quality is needed. Compressing these files into smaller ZIP archives makes them more convenient to store and faster to transmit on the Internet.

Step 1

Right-click "Start" and choose "My Computer." Navigate to the audio file you want to compress by double-clicking any drives or folders you want to open.

Step 2

Right-click on the file you need, then choose "Send To" and "Compressed (Zipped) folder." The system may ask to associate its own utility with ZIP files. If you do not have a zip utility, answer "Yes." The zipped file appears in the same folder as the original, with the same title but with the .zip extension. For example, "test.doc" becomes "test.zip." Note that the original file remains, though you can delete it to save space.

Step 3

Download, install and run a standalone zip utility if this method does not work because you have a version of Windows earlier than XP.

Step 4

Click a check mark into the "Compress Contents" box. Click "OK" to close the "Attributes" dialog box, then click "OK" to close the "Properties" dialog box. Examples of such programs include the free 7-Zip and jZip, and the commercial WinZip.

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