When a server processes a "zip on the fly" request, it must balance several constraints simultaneously: memory allocation, script execution time, network connection stability, and file-system permissions. The "total size of requested files is too large" message is a high-level indication that one—or more—of these constraints has been exceeded. In practice, the error can manifest in a variety of ways. A user might initiate a download, only to be redirected to an error page; the ZIP file may download but be 0 bytes in size; or the operation may fail silently, leaving the user with a truncated or corrupted archive.
Command-line tools can sometimes bypass web interface restrictions, though you may still hit errors if the server itself blocks the request. total size of requested files is too large for ziponthefly
Browsers often struggle with massive streams that "on-the-fly" zipping creates. Using a command-line tool or manager can bypass these session timeouts. Internet Archive When a server processes a "zip on the
What (e.g., SharePoint, Nextcloud, a university portal) are you downloading from? A user might initiate a download, only to
Large compression tasks take a long time, often causing the connection to drop before the download can even begin. How to Fix It
You can use the "Virtual Files" feature to selectively sync only the massive folder you need, and then safely un-sync it afterward to save local space. 2. Connect Using WebDAV