// Get real path for our folder $rootPath = realpath('folder-to-zip'); // Initialize archive object $zip = new ZipArchive(); $zip->open('file.zip', ZipArchive::CREATE | ZipArchive::OVERWRITE); // Create recursive directory iterator /** @var SplFileInfo[] $files */ $files = new RecursiveIteratorIterator( new RecursiveDirectoryIterator($rootPath), RecursiveIteratorIterator::LEAVES_ONLY ); foreach ($files as $name => $file) { // Skip directories (they would be added automatically) if (!$file->isDir()) { // Get real and relative path for current file $filePath = $file->getRealPath(); $relativePath = substr($filePath, strlen($rootPath) + 1); // Add current file to archive $zip->addFile($filePath, $relativePath); } } // Zip archive will be created only after closing object $zip->close();