How to zip a folder on a Mac
Thirty seconds in the Finder, no extra software. Here is the click path, the Terminal version if you prefer it, and what the ZIP needs to contain when it is a Keynote HTML export.
Finder: right-click, Compress
The built-in way, which Apple documents in the macOS User Guide.
- In the Finder, select the folder.
- Right-click it (or Control-click) and choose Compress "folder name".
- A file called folder name.zip appears next to the original. The original is untouched.
Terminal, if you prefer
Open Terminal, then type zip -r followed by the name you want and the folder. For example: zip -r deck.zip "My Deck". The -r means recursive, so everything inside the folder goes in. This route does not add the __MACOSX folder that the Finder does.
Why Keynote exports a folder, not a file
When you choose File → Export To → HTML… in Keynote for Mac, you get a folder containing index.html and an assets folder with the slide images, media and player scripts. A browser needs all of it, and a single HTML file could not carry the video. Zipping the folder turns it into one thing you can upload.
What the ZIP must contain
For the upload to work, index.html has to be at the top of the ZIP, or one folder down.
- Compress the export folder itself, the one that holds index.html. Do not compress the Desktop folder around it.
- Keep the assets folder next to index.html. Do not zip the two separately.
- If the Finder added a __MACOSX folder, leave it. Linkdeck drops it.
- Do not upload the .key file. It is the Keynote document, not the export.
Upload the ZIP and get a link
Drop the .zip on linkdeck.me. Linkdeck unzips it, checks for index.html, compresses images, and hosts the folder on a CDN. You get a link that opens the deck in any browser, with the animations, builds, video and audio Keynote exported. Free decks can be 200 MB; Pro decks 500 MB.
If the upload is refused
The usual reason is that index.html is too deep in the ZIP: you compressed the folder that contains the export folder. Open the ZIP by double-clicking it, look at what is inside, and re-compress the right folder. The other reason is size: check the number in the Finder's Get Info window against the limit for your plan.
Questions
Where does the .zip go?
Next to the original folder, with the same name and a .zip extension, per Apple's macOS User Guide. The original folder is not changed.
Do I need to delete __MACOSX?
No. The Finder adds it to hold Mac-only metadata. Linkdeck ignores it when unzipping.
Can I zip on an iPad?
Yes. In the Files app, touch and hold the folder and choose Compress. Whether the deck itself can be exported to HTML from Keynote on iPad is a separate question; the export in this guide is from Keynote for Mac.
Zip the export folder and drop it here
The first deck is free and needs no account.