Python zipfile, How to set the compression level?

Starting from python 3.7 zipfile added the compresslevel parameter. (https://docs.python.org/3/library/zipfile.html)

I know this question is dated, but for people like me, that fall in this question, it may be a better option than the accepted one.


The zipfile module does not provide this. During compression it uses constant from zlib - Z_DEFAULT_COMPRESSION. By default it equals -1. So you can try to change this constant manually, as possible solution.


Python 3.7+ answer: If you look at the zipfile.ZipFile constructor you'll see this:

def __init__(self, file, mode="r", compression=ZIP_STORED, allowZip64=True,
             compresslevel=None):
    """Open the ZIP file with mode read 'r', write 'w', exclusive create 'x',
    or append 'a'.
    ...

compresslevel: None (default for the given compression type) or an integer
               specifying the level to pass to the compressor.
               When using ZIP_STORED or ZIP_LZMA this keyword has no effect.
               When using ZIP_DEFLATED integers 0 through 9 are accepted.
               When using ZIP_BZIP2 integers 1 through 9 are accepted.
    """

which means you can pass the desired compression in the constructor:

myzip = zipfile.ZipFile(file_handle, "w", compression=zipfile.ZIP_DEFLATED, compresslevel=9)

See also https://docs.python.org/3/library/zipfile.html