How to Protect a Zip File with a Password on PC or Mac

Using WinRAR for Windows

Install WinRAR on your PC. If you don't already have this free archive tool, see Use WinRAR to learn how to get it.

Press ⊞ Win+E. This opens the File Explorer.

Browse to the folder with the files you want to zip.

Select the file(s) and/or folder(s) you want to zip. To select more than one file and/or folder at a time, hold Ctrl as you click each file or folder name.

Right-click the highlighted file(s). A context menu will expand.

Click Add to archive…. This opens a WinRAR window called “Archive name and parameters.”

Name the file. You can type a different file name by erasing the default under "Archive name." Leave ".zip” at the end of the file name to show that it's a zip file. For example, archive.zip.

Select ZIP under “Archive format.”

Click Set password…. It's at the bottom-right corner of the window. A password entry window will appear.

Enter and confirm a password. You must type the password exactly the same into both blanks.

Click OK. It's at the bottom-left corner of the password window.

Click OK. It's at the bottom-center part of the archive window. This creates the zip file and protects it with the password you entered.

Using Zip for macOS

Open a Terminal window on your Mac. You'll find Terminal in the Applications folder in a sub-folder called Utilities.

Type zip -er at the command line and press ⏎ Return. This tells your Mac to create an encrypted zip file.

Type the name and location of the zip file you want to create, followed by a space. Make sure to end the new file name with “.zip” to show it's a zip file. For example, if you want to create a zip file called Archive.zip on your desktop, type ~Desktop/Archive.zip and then type a space.

Type the name of the folder you want to zip and press ⏎ Return. Type this right after the space after the path to the new zip file. You'll then be prompted to enter a password. For example, if you want to zip a folder on your desktop called Samples, type ~Desktop/Samples after the space and press ⏎ Return. The entire command would look like this ~Desktop/Archive.zip ~Desktop/Samples.

Type a password and press ⏎ Return. This is the password you'll need to enter when unzipping the archive. A confirmation message will appear.

Re-enter the password and press ⏎ Return. This compresses the folder and files into a password-protected zip file.