# Creating Archives

Opus supports multiple archive formats (Zip support is built-in, and support for other formats like 7zip and RAR is provided by means of a plugin). There are a number of ways to create an archive, but if you want a completely new, empty archive file, the easiest way is with the **New Archive** command in the **New Folder** dropdown menu.

![](https://3597805814-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F3XSZSwWow0fDf6fQJobd%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-9ea7390c9566fd720c82e0aefc28d87cfa4b1f91%2Fnew_archive.png?alt=media)

Enter the name of the archive (or accept the default name) and use the **Archive Type** drop-down to select the type of archive you want to create. The file extension of the new archive will change automatically to match the type of the archive you're creating.

See the documentation for the [Create Folder](https://github.com/Chaoses-Ib/DirectoryOpus/blob/main/Manual/file_operations/creating_archives/creating_folders.md) dialog for more information about using this function.

### Adding files to a new archive

Once you've created a new archive, you can add files to it in several ways. Opus treats archives exactly like a folder; this means you can:

* Drag and drop files to it. If you have the display of archives in the folder tree enabled on the [Folder Tree / Contents](../preferences/preferences_categories/folder_tree/contents) Preferences page, you can also drag and drop to archives in the tree.
* Copy files from one folder using the clipboard, then navigate to the archive and paste them in
* Open it in a dual-display and use the [**Copy Files**](https://github.com/Chaoses-Ib/DirectoryOpus/blob/main/Manual/file_operations/creating_archives/copying_moving_and_deleting_files/README.md) function to copy files directly to the archive

The **New Archive** command creates an empty archive which you can then copy files into, but if you have one or more files that you want to add to a new archive, you can skip the **New Archive** step by using the [context menu items](../preferences/preferences_categories/zip_and_other_archives/archive_context_menu) that Opus can add. If turned on, right-clicking the files or folders will display one or more commands for [adding to a new archive](creating_archives/adding_to_archives).

More:\
[Adding to Archives](creating_archives/adding_to_archives)\
[Add to Archive Dialog](creating_archives/add_to_archive_dialog)\
[Zip Files](creating_archives/zip_files)
