Best File Compression Format to Use in 2026 | I Tested 52 Formats to Find the Winner

Which file compression format is actually the best in 2026? We took one identical 55MB mixed-media folder and fed it into 52 different compression formats — from 1985's vintage ARC to the absolute cutting edge of 2026 — and measured every single result. Here's what we found. FULL EXPERIMENT DATA (free & open source): https://github.com/ezyZip/best-archive-format-comparison THE RESEARCH PAPER: https://github.com/ezyZip/best-archive-format-comparison/blob/main/paper/paper.pdf THE FULL WRITE-UP: https://medium.com/@ezyZip/the-best-way-to-zip-a-file-in-2026-i-tested-every-format-to-be-sure-c87e3c53d06f WHAT SURPRISED US • ZIP hasn't truly evolved — a 1993 PKZIP binary scored almost identically to modern Info-ZIP (~81.6%) • Exotic formats like PAQ8PX hit an incredible 17.8%... but took 20 minutes and almost nobody can open the result • Photos and videos barely shrink at all — they stayed at 98-100% of their original size across every single test WHAT YOU SHOULD ACTUALLY USE • Sharing with someone → ZIP. It opens everywhere and nobody has to install a thing. • Documents & text → 7-Zip. Noticeably smaller, and it only costs you a second or two. • Photos & video → ZIP them to bundle and organize, but don't expect them to shrink.