Which operation combines multiple files into a single archive file?

Answer Details

File management operations each do a distinct job: copy duplicates a file while keeping the original in place, move relocates a file from one location to another, and delete removes a file entirely. None of these three combines several separate files into one package.

Compress takes multiple files, or even whole folders, and packages them together into a single archive file, often reducing the overall storage size in the process using compression algorithms. This single archive can then be stored or shared as one unit rather than as many separate files, and later extracted back into its original files when needed. Common archive formats produced this way include ZIP and RAR.

The wording combines multiple files into a single archive is the specific clue that separates compress from copy, move, or delete, since only compression bundles several files together into one.