Download multiple files as Zip (Compressed) file in ASP.Net MVC

To download multiple files as a single zip file in response to a button click, you can follow these general steps using a combination of server-side and client-side code. Below is a basic example using ASP.NET and C#.

protected void DownloadButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    // Create a unique temporary folder for storing the individual files
    string tempFolder = Server.MapPath("~/TempDownloads/" + Guid.NewGuid().ToString());
    Directory.CreateDirectory(tempFolder);

    try
    {
        // Copy each file to the temporary folder
        foreach (string filePath in filePathsList)
        {
            string fileName = Path.GetFileName(filePath);
            string destinationPath = Path.Combine(tempFolder, fileName);
            File.Copy(filePath, destinationPath);
        }

        // Create a zip file containing all files in the temporary folder
        string zipFileName = "DownloadedFiles.zip";
        string zipFilePath = Server.MapPath("~/TempDownloads/" + zipFileName);
        ZipFile.CreateFromDirectory(tempFolder, zipFilePath);

        // Send the zip file to the client for download
        Response.Clear();
        Response.ContentType = "application/zip";
        Response.AppendHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=" + zipFileName);
        Response.TransmitFile(zipFilePath);
        Response.End();
    }
    finally
    {
        // Clean up: Delete the temporary folder and its contents
        Directory.Delete(tempFolder, true);
    }
}

 Create a model to store information about each file, such as file name, path, and content type.

public class FileModel
{
    public string FileName { get; set; }
    public string FilePath { get; set; }
    public string ContentType { get; set; }
}

In your controller, create an action that prepares the files you want to include in the zip file and make sure you have the System.IO.Compression namespace included in your project.

using System.IO.Compression;

public class DownloadController : Controller
{
    public ActionResult DownloadFiles()
    {
        // Download all files from a provided folder path
        var folderPath = Server.MapPath("/Articles/");

        // Ensure the folder exists
        if (!Directory.Exists(folderPath))
            return HttpNotFound("Folder not found.");

        var files = Directory.GetFiles(folderPath);

        if (files.Length == 0)
            return HttpNotFound("No files found to download.");

        List fileList = files.Select(file =>
        {
            var fileInfo = new FileInfo(file);
            return new FileModel
            {
                FileName = fileInfo.Name,
                FilePath = file,
                ContentType = "text/plain"
            };
        }).ToList();


        // If you have the files details separately
        //List fileList = new List
        //{
        //    new FileModel { FileName = "Document1.txt", FilePath = "path/to/Document1.txt", ContentType = "text/plain" },
        //    new FileModel { FileName = "Document2.txt", FilePath = "path/to/Document2.txt", ContentType = "text/plain" }
        //    // Add more files as needed
        //};

        return ZipFiles(fileList);
    }

    private ActionResult ZipFiles(List files)
    {
        using (MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream())
        {
            using (ZipArchive archive = new ZipArchive(ms, ZipArchiveMode.Create, true))
            {
                foreach (var file in files)
                {
                    ZipArchiveEntry entry = archive.CreateEntry(file.FileName);

                    using (Stream entryStream = entry.Open())
                    using (FileStream fileStream = System.IO.File.OpenRead(file.FilePath))
                    {
                        fileStream.CopyTo(entryStream);
                    }
                }
            }

            return File(ms.ToArray(), "application/zip", "Documents.zip");
        }
    }
}

In your view, create a button that triggers the download.

Download

To download multiple files as a zip in Dot net MVC, you can follow these steps:

1. First, make sure you have the System.IO.Compression and System.IO.Compression.FileSystem namespaces imported in your project.

2. Create a method that takes the file paths of the documents you want to download as parameters. This method will create a zip file and add the documents to it. Here's an example:

3. using System.IO;
   using System.IO.Compression;
   
   public void DownloadFilesAsZip(string[] filePaths)
   {
       string zipFileName = "Documents.zip";
   
       using (ZipArchive zipArchive = ZipFile.Open(zipFileName, ZipArchiveMode.Create))
       {
           foreach (string filePath in filePaths)
           {
               zipArchive.CreateEntryFromFile(filePath, Path.GetFileName(filePath));
           }
       }
   
       // Return the zip file for download
       Response.ContentType = "application/zip";
       Response.Headers.Add("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=" + zipFileName);
       Response.TransmitFile(zipFileName);
       Response.Flush();
       Response.End();
   }
   

4. In your view, add a button that triggers the download action. When the button is clicked, it should call the DownloadFilesAsZip method and pass the file paths of the documents you want to download. Here's an example:

5. Download All Documents
   

Make sure to replace "ControllerName" with the actual name of your controller.

That's it! When the user clicks the "Download All Documents" button, the files will be downloaded as a zip file.