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Home Interviews How can you compress or decompress files in C#? – MindStick
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1 Answers

ICSM Computer
ICSM Computer 07 May 2025
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In C#, you can compress and decompress files using classes from the System.IO.Compression namespace, such as GZipStream and ZipFile.

Option 1: GZip – Compress/Decompress a Single File

Compress with GZipStream:

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.IO.Compression;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        string sourceFile = "example.txt";
        string compressedFile = "example.txt.gz";

        using (FileStream originalFileStream = File.OpenRead(sourceFile))
        using (FileStream compressedFileStream = File.Create(compressedFile))
        using (GZipStream compressionStream = new GZipStream(compressedFileStream, CompressionMode.Compress))
        {
            originalFileStream.CopyTo(compressionStream);
        }

        Console.WriteLine("File compressed.");
    }
}

Decompress:

string compressedFile = "example.txt.gz";
string decompressedFile = "example_decompressed.txt";

using (FileStream compressedFileStream = File.OpenRead(compressedFile))
using (FileStream decompressedFileStream = File.Create(decompressedFile))
using (GZipStream decompressionStream = new GZipStream(compressedFileStream, CompressionMode.Decompress))
{
    decompressionStream.CopyTo(decompressedFileStream);
}

Console.WriteLine("File decompressed.");

Option 2: Zip – Compress/Extract Multiple Files or Folders

Create a Zip Archive:

using System.IO.Compression;

ZipFile.CreateFromDirectory(@"C:\SourceFolder", @"C:\output.zip");

Extract a Zip Archive:

ZipFile.ExtractToDirectory(@"C:\output.zip", @"C:\ExtractedFolder");

Add a reference to System.IO.Compression.FileSystem.dll if you're targeting .NET Framework.

Notes:

  1. Use GZipStream for compressing a single file (stream-based).
  2. Use ZipFile for full folder compression/extraction (archive-based).
  3. Compression helps reduce disk usage and speeds up data transfer.
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