Block reference / General

Zip

Compress files and folders into a zip file, or extract a zip into a folder.

In both appsWarpX BrowserWarpX Phone

Use this block to bundle what a run produced, such as screenshots, exports and logs, into one file to keep or send, or to unpack an archive a run downloaded. Folders go in whole, under their own name. It works only in the WarpX Browser desktop app.

The Zip block's settings, filled in as in the example below.

Settings

Action

The choice at the top of the block. Compress makes a zip file. Extract unpacks one.

ExampleCompress
Files and folderswhen Action is Compress

What to put in the zip: full paths, one per line. A folder goes in with everything under it, inside a folder of its own name; a file goes in at the top. You can also write a variable holding a list, such as {{variables.files}} from Get file path.

Example
C:\Users\me\Documents\screenshots
C:\Users\me\Documents\results.csv
Zip file

The zip to make, or the zip to extract. A whole path; a leading ~ means your home folder. The folder button opens a file dialog. Missing folders are created when compressing.

ExampleC:\Users\me\Backups\results-{{$date('YYYY-MM-DD')}}.zip
Extract towhen Action is Extract

The folder to unpack into. Empty means a folder beside the zip with the zip's name, so export.zip unpacks into export.

ExampleC:\Users\me\Downloads\export
Replace files that are already there

When compressing, off makes the block stop if the zip file already exists. When extracting, off leaves files that are already in the folder as they are. It is ticked when you add the block.

ExampleChecked
Assign to variable

Keeps the result in a variable: the zip's path after Compress, or the list of extracted files after Extract.

ExampleUnchecked
Variable namewhen Assign to variable is ticked

The variable to write to. Read it later as {{variables.backupZip}}.

ExamplebackupZip

Every block also has the shared block settings — a description, Disable block and what to do on an error. Fields that take text accept data from earlier blocks.

What it hands on

Compress hands on the zip's path; Extract hands on the list of extracted files by full path. The next block reads either as {{prevBlockData}}. The log line says what was done, such as 2 items into C:\Users\me\Backups\results-2026-10-08.zip (5120 KB). Leaves by its single output.

Example: Back up the day's results into a dated zip

  1. Start
  2. Excel
  3. Zip
  4. File action
Where Zip sits in the example workflow.
  1. Add Zip at the end of the workflow and leave it on Compress.
  2. In Files and folders, write C:\Users\me\Documents\screenshots on one line and C:\Users\me\Documents\results.csv on the next.
  3. Set Zip file to C:\Users\me\Backups\results-{{$date('YYYY-MM-DD')}}.zip.
  4. Keep Replace files that are already there ticked, so running twice on one day replaces that day's zip.
  5. Add File action after it with Delete and the path C:\Users\me\Documents\results.csv, so tomorrow's run starts a new CSV.
  6. Run the workflow and open C:\Users\me\Backups to find results-2026-10-08.zip.

Good to know

  • Desktop app only. In the browser extension the block is not in the list.
  • Every path must be full, from a drive or from /. A path in Files and folders that does not exist stops the block, and no zip is written.
  • Extracting refuses an archive with an entry that would land outside the target folder, such as ..\..\Windows\x.dll, and then extracts nothing.
  • Files listed one by one go in at the top of the zip under their own names, so two files with the same name from different folders end up with the same name in the zip. Add their folders instead to keep them apart.

See also

  • Get file path — List the files in a folder, by full path, into a variable you can loop over.
  • File action — Write a value to a TXT, CSV or JSON file on the computer, append to one, or delete a file.
  • Command — Run a command or a script on the computer in CMD, PowerShell or Terminal, and keep what it prints.