How do I create an encrypted (password protected) zip file?
-
2Related: Compressing folders with password via command line– Byte Commander ♦Apr 24, 2015 at 21:48
-
3Note, that Zip Passwords is no protection! those can be easily broken! use 7-Zip with a long password instead, or better GNUPG encryption!– rubo77Feb 7, 2018 at 10:36
-
Modern ZIP files support at least two encryption methods and the AES-256 encryption is safe when you use long enough passphrase. However, as ZIP files do not support modern password hashing, use of short passwords with even AES-256 encrypted ZIP is even more dangerous than short passwords in general. Also note that some older software that support ZIP files may not support AES-256 encrypted ZIP files so if compatibility with older software is important, all ZIP encrypted files should be weak.– Mikko RantalainenMar 9, 2023 at 18:14
8 Answers
This will prompt for a password:
zip --encrypt file.zip files
This is more insecure, as the password is entered/shown as plain text:
zip --password (password) file.zip files
Warning, the standard zip encryption is very weak and is easily cracked.
Note, Use -r
to zip directory and subdirectory recursively.
-
5
-
9Using gnupg on the final zip with a key for yourself or your destination. Dec 15, 2010 at 21:43
-
2
-
22@Black If you're trying to compress a folder, then you need to use
-r
switch. So it'll bezip --encrypt file.zip -r your_folder
– H G SurJan 20, 2018 at 11:55 -
1
Starting from Ubuntu 17.10, right-clicking and selecting "Compress" no longer has "Other Options" listed.
To resolve this, open "Archive Manager" and then drag & drop the files/folders from your File Manager into it and it will appear.
-
2If Archive Manager is not installed (as in my lightweight debian for example), it can be installed with
$ su root -c 'apt-get install file-roller'
. May 14, 2020 at 8:27 -
Unfortunately, this is the only option right now. But it’s not that many clicks more. Related: askubuntu.com/questions/868493/…– cawJul 15, 2021 at 19:13
-
It appears that this functionality is restored in (at least) 22.04, but the UI is a little different now. Click the extension drop-down (.zip) and choose ".zip 🔒 (Password protected zip, must be installed on Windows and Mac.)" instead. Nov 28, 2022 at 21:36
You can also right-click on a folder or file(s) in Nautilus and select "Compress...". In the resulting window, you can expand the "Other Options" section to enter a password.
If the password field or any of the other options are not enabled, then the selected compression option does not support it. Select a different one from the list after the filename. According to the documentation:
Currently, only 7-Zip, ZIP, RAR and ARJ archives support encryption
-
7It's worth noting that you need to install
.rar
before you can use it in the compressor. Feb 20, 2012 at 0:59 -
29I don't see "Other Options" anymore in Ubuntu 17.10 (I remember seeing it in earlier version though)– JonathanDec 12, 2017 at 22:04
-
Comments and answers have mentioned the default zip encryption is weak, but since there is no code example, here is on with .7zip:
sudo apt-get install p7zip-full # install 7zip
7za a -tzip -p -mem=AES256 foo_file.zip foo_folder # encrypt folder
Commands explained:
7za
: Use 7zipa
: Append? / Adding files? (e
for extraction)-tzip
: Use .zip format instead of default .7z-p
: specify a password for encryption-mem=AES256
: Use AES256 encryptionfoo_file.zip
: Name of .zip filefoo_folder
: Name of folder to encrypt
Answer based on: https://www.tecmint.com/7zip-command-examples-in-linux/
-
1
-
I think the resulting .zip is the same as using software on Windows to create a .zip with a password. I haven't experienced anyone telling me they couldn't unzip this, but I haven't used it often. Jul 21, 2019 at 14:17
-
1Windows zip folder does not support AES256. 7-zip or WinZip (maybe WinRAR too?) should be able to extract it.– syockitJul 20, 2020 at 15:21
-
Best answer since it has good encryption. Double-clicking a file zipped in this manner in the
nemo
file manager at least (but probably on Ubuntu's defaultnautilus
file manager too) on Ubuntu allows you to open and decrypt via a GUI, making it very easy and intuitive for a recipient to decrypt on Linux Ubuntu. Aug 18, 2021 at 19:02 -
2FYI I tried extracting this on a fresh install of Win11 using its built-in capability (Windows Explorer) and it failed with an error.– Nick SOct 19, 2022 at 11:53
sudo apt-get install zip
zip -r --encrypt result.zip folder
- Install zip
- Use
-r
to zip directory and subdirectory Use
--encrypt
to secure your fileswith a simple password-based symmetric encryption system, which is documented in the ZIP specification
Encrypt
gpg -c your.zip
creates your.zip.gpg
Decrypt:
gpg your.zip.gpg
More details including directories.
with bsdtar
Encrypt a_file
, creating the encrypted archive encrypted.zip
(you'll be prompted for a password):
bsdtar --options zip:encryption -acf encrypted.zip a_file
Decrypt and extract the file from the encrypted archive:
bsdtar -xf encrypted.zip
The -a
option when creating the archive makes bsdtar choose the archive format and its compression using the ending of the archive, .zip
. If you don't add -a
, you'll get this error message:
bsdtar: Unknown module name: `zip'
The metadata (filenames) of an encrypted zip can be read with unzip -l
The solution, as described in that link is to double-zip it but it is really not elegant.
Also, some email providers block that kind of attachment, gmail for example.