Which extension is a compressed archive format that can contain multiple files?

Which extension is a compressed archive format that can contain multiple files?

• A. .tar
• B. .gz
• C. .rar
• D. .zip

Answer: (D)

A compressed archive bundles several files into one container and shrinks its size for easier storage or transfer. The zip format does exactly this: a single .zip file can hold many files and folders, with each item compressible inside the container, making the whole package easy to share. That combination—archiving multiple items and compressing them in one file—is what makes .zip the best match here. For context, a tar file is an archive that can contain multiple files, but it isn’t compressed by itself (you typically see it paired with gzip to become .tar.gz). A gzip file (.gz) is compression for a single file, not an archive of many files. A rar file is another compressed archive format, but zip is the more common, widely supported example often used in basic material.

A compressed archive bundles several files into one container and shrinks its size for easier storage or transfer. The zip format does exactly this: a single .zip file can hold many files and folders, with each item compressible inside the container, making the whole package easy to share. That combination—archiving multiple items and compressing them in one file—is what makes .zip the best match here.

For context, a tar file is an archive that can contain multiple files, but it isn’t compressed by itself (you typically see it paired with gzip to become .tar.gz). A gzip file (.gz) is compression for a single file, not an archive of many files. A rar file is another compressed archive format, but zip is the more common, widely supported example often used in basic material.