Compress, Encrypt and Transform Files Before Transfer — ZIP and PGP

One setting per destination — choose how each target receives its copy of the file.

Modify Before Transfer — Five Transformation Modes

Every destination target in an AnyFileBackup task has a Modify before transfer setting. It controls how the file is prepared before it is written to that target. Five modes are available: None (the file is delivered as-is), Compress (ZIP archive, no password), Uncompress (unzip from a ZIP archive), Compress and encrypt (ZIP password protection or PGP), and Decrypt and decompress (ZIP or PGP). The source file is never modified — only the copy being written to that specific target is transformed.

For modes that require a method choice — Compress and encrypt and Decrypt and decompress — a dedicated configuration window lets you select whether to use ZIP or PGP, and then choose the associated account. Each target in the task configures this independently, so the same file can be transformed differently for every destination it is sent to. For the full list of destination types that support file transformation, see Backup Destinations.

Reduce what gets stored at the destination — without touching the source.

Compress — ZIP Without Encryption

Files that compress well — log files, database exports, text documents, XML and JSON data — can be significantly reduced in size before they land at the destination. AnyFileBackup compresses the file into a standard ZIP archive as part of the transfer, writing the smaller archive to the target while leaving the original at the source unchanged. No password is applied; the archive can be opened by any ZIP-capable application without any special setup on the recipient's end.

Compress is useful when the destination has limited storage, when bandwidth to the target is a concern, or simply when archived delivery is the preferred format at that location. Because the setting is per-target, a task can deliver compressed files to a remote FTP server while simultaneously delivering plain files to a local folder — in the same run.

Some destinations require plain files — deliver them that way regardless of how they arrive at the source.

Uncompress — Unzip Before Delivery

When the source folder contains ZIP archives and the destination system requires plain files, AnyFileBackup decompresses before transfer. The archive is unpacked during the transfer process and the extracted file is written to the target. The original ZIP at the source is not modified or deleted.

This mode is well suited to automated pipelines where an upstream system deposits ZIP files into a watched folder, but the downstream application — a database loader, a processing script, or a document management system — expects uncompressed input. It eliminates the need for a separate decompression step between the source and the destination, keeping the pipeline self-contained within the task.

Files arrive at the destination compressed and locked — only the authorised party can open them.

Compress and Encrypt — ZIP Password or PGP

When a file must be secured both in transit and at rest on the destination, AnyFileBackup compresses and encrypts it before transfer. Two methods are available and are selected in a dedicated configuration window within the target settings:

• ZIP — the file is compressed into a standard ZIP archive and protected with a password stored in a ZIP Password account. Any ZIP-capable application can open the archive with the correct password; no specialist software or cryptographic knowledge is required on the recipient's end.
• PGP — the file is compressed and encrypted using the recipient's PGP public key, stored in a PGP account. Only the holder of the corresponding private key can decrypt the result. The output uses the OpenPGP standard, which is widely supported across platforms and tools.

Because the setting is per-target, one destination in a task can receive a ZIP-password-protected archive, another a PGP-encrypted file, and a third the plain file — all from the same task run, without duplicating the task.

Accept encrypted or compressed files from the source and deliver plain files to the destination.

Decrypt and Decompress — ZIP or PGP

The transformation works in both directions. When the source contains files that are already compressed or encrypted — ZIP password-protected archives, or files encrypted with PGP — AnyFileBackup can unpack them before writing to the target. As with Compress and encrypt, two methods are available: ZIP (using a ZIP Password account) or PGP (using a private key from a PGP account).

A common scenario is receiving encrypted file deliveries from an external party — for example, via a monitored mailbox or FTP source — and writing the decrypted plain files to a local folder or processing system. The source file is not modified; the decrypted and decompressed copy is written only to the configured target.

ZIP passwords and PGP key pairs stored as named profiles — reusable across any number of tasks and targets.

ZIP Password and PGP Account Management

All credentials used for compression and encryption are stored as named account profiles within AnyFileBackup — the same profile system used for FTP credentials, cloud storage accounts, and SMTP settings. ZIP Password accounts store the password used to protect or unpack a ZIP archive. PGP accounts store a key: a public key for encrypting files before writing to a target, or a private key for decrypting files arriving from a source.

Each profile can be assigned to any number of targets independently. A PGP account holding a recipient's public key, for example, can be applied to multiple targets across multiple tasks without duplicating the key data. Rotating a key or changing a password requires updating the account profile once — all tasks and targets that reference it pick up the change automatically, with no need to edit each task individually.