How to Create and Download a Zip File From Folder in PHP?

Hi Dev,

Now, let's see tutorial of how to create and download a zip file from folder in php. it's simple example of create & download zip file using php. We will use create zip format and download whole folder or file using php. I’m going to show you about create zip and download file using php.

Start the tutorial for creating a simple zip file from folder in PHP projects or web applications:

Step 1: Create a Index.php File

First of all create a index.php file and update the following code into your index.php file:

<?php
 
/* creates a compressed zip file */
function create_zip($files = array(),$destination = '',$overwrite = false) {
    //if the zip file already exists and overwrite is false, return false
    if(file_exists($destination) && !$overwrite) { return false; }
    //vars
    $valid_files = array();
    //if files were passed in...
    if(is_array($files)) {
        //cycle through each file
        foreach($files as $file) {
            //make sure the file exists
            if(file_exists($file)) {
                $valid_files[] = $file;
            }
        }
    }
    //if we have good files...
    if(count($valid_files)) {
        //create the archive
        $zip = new ZipArchive();
        if($zip->open($destination,$overwrite ? ZIPARCHIVE::OVERWRITE : ZIPARCHIVE::CREATE) !== true) {
            return false;
        }
        //add the files
        foreach($valid_files as $file) {
            $zip->addFile($file,$file);
        }
        //debug
        //echo 'The zip archive contains ',$zip->numFiles,' files with a status of ',$zip->status;
         
        //close the zip -- done!
        $zip->close();
         
        //check to make sure the file exists
        return file_exists($destination);
    }
    else
    {
        return false;
    }
}
 
$files_to_zip = array(
    'D:/xampp/htdocs/phptest.php',
    'D:/xampp/htdocs/index.php',
);
 
//if success than true. if false, zip creation failed
$result = create_zip($files_to_zip,'my-archive.zip');
 
?>  

We have created a function in PHP called create_zip (). Which compresses and downloads files or folders into zip.

see that the function named create_zip () is called in the last of PHP script. This function compresses files and folders in the zip. And If you want to change the name of the zip file that will be created and downloaded, you can also change its name easily.

NOTE:- Where you create_zip ($ files_to_zip, ‘my-archive.zip’); Under “my-archive.zip” it has been done, instead you can keep any name you want to keep.

You have to go to the browser. And hit the following URL:

 http://localhost/index.php   

The zip file we named “my-archive.zip” was converted to such zip after downloading. You can see in the image below.

I hope it could help you...