Plesk File Manager lets you compress files into archives and extract uploaded archives directly on the server. This is much faster than downloading, zipping locally, and re-uploading.
How to compress files
- Log in to Plesk.
- Go to Websites & Domains and click File Manager for your domain.
- Navigate to the folder containing the files you want to compress.
- Tick the checkboxes next to the files and/or folders you want to include.
- Click the Archive button in the toolbar.
- Choose the archive format — ZIP is recommended for maximum compatibility.
- Enter a name for the archive file.
- Click OK.
The archive will be created in the current directory. You can then download it or move it elsewhere.
How to extract files from an archive
- In File Manager, navigate to the folder containing the archive.
- Tick the checkbox next to the archive file.
- Click Extract Files in the toolbar.
- If there are files with the same names in the directory, tick Replace existing files to overwrite them.
- Click OK.
The contents of the archive will be extracted into the current directory.
Supported archive formats
- Creating archives: ZIP, TAR, TAR.GZ
- Extracting archives: ZIP, RAR, TAR, TGZ, TAR.GZ
Tips
- Uploading a website? Compress the files on your computer first, upload the single archive via File Manager, then extract it on the server. This is significantly faster than uploading hundreds of individual files.
- Making a quick backup? Select all files in
httpdocs, compress to ZIP, and download the archive. - Large archives may take a moment to extract — don’t navigate away until the process completes.
Troubleshooting
- Extract Files button is greyed out: Make sure you’ve selected (ticked) the archive file, not just clicked on it.
- Extraction fails: The archive may be corrupted. Try re-uploading it. If it’s a RAR file, ensure it wasn’t created with RAR5 format, which older server versions may not support.
- Files missing after extraction: Check if they were extracted into a subfolder inside the archive.
