Clicking twenty files one at a time is not a plan. A folder downloads as a single zip, with its sub-folders and structure intact.
What you get
- The folder, its sub-folders and their files, arranged as they are here.
- Only the files you are actually allowed to download.
- Nothing from the trash.
A folder can contain files you may read but not download. Those are left out of the zip, silently — the download permission is per file and the zip obeys it. So a zip is not always a complete copy of what you can see.
When it is the right tool
| Situation | Why |
|---|---|
| Handing a client everything from a finished job | One file, right structure, one email. |
| Taking a copy before a big reorganisation | A known-good snapshot to fall back on. |
| An auditor asking for a year of something | Beats forwarding forty attachments. |
| Working offline | Everything, once, rather than file by file. |
Large folders take a moment
The zip is built when you ask for it, so a big folder is not instant. It is doing real work rather than hanging.
It is a copy, not a move
Downloading changes nothing here. The files stay where they are, shared as they were. What leaves is a copy, and from that moment it is outside everything on this page — no sharing rule, no expiry, no revocation. Treat the zip the way you would treat a box of printed papers.
Before you send a zip to a client
- Open it and look. A folder almost always contains working files nobody outside should see.
- Check for anything tagged confidential or internal.
- Remember it is a copy — no expiry, no revocation, no view count.
- Consider a public link instead, which can expire and be revoked.
A zip is the least controlled way to move documents out of the business. That is not a reason to avoid it — sometimes a client just needs everything — but it should be a decision rather than the default.
A cleaner alternative for most cases
| Zip | Public link |
|---|---|
| Everything at once. | One file. |
| No expiry. | Expires when you say. |
| Cannot be revoked. | Revoked in one click. |
| No idea whether they opened it. | View count and last opened. |
For a handover, a zip. For “can you send me the contract”, a link.
Where to go next
Something missing or wrong here? Tell us. A question that needed asking usually means a page that needed writing.