7-Zip 25.00

Igor Pavlov ❘ 1.5MB ❘ Open Source ❘
Windows Mac
out of 2173 votes ❘
Rank 2 among competitors

A free compression tool that does its job

Michael Ganss

08/02/2012

7-Zip is a free file archiver that achieves very high compression ratios and integrates well with Windows.

7-Zip by Russian developer Igor Pavlov is a free and open source file compression and archive tool. Its name indicates that it supports the following 7 file formats for both packing and unpacking: 7z, XZ, BZIP2, GZIP, TAR, ZIP, and WIM. Unpacking only support is provided for the following formats: ARJ, CAB, CHM, CPIO, CramFS, DEB, DMG, FAT, HFS, ISO, LZH, LZMA, MBR, MSI, NSIS, NTFS, RAR, RPM, SquashFS, UDF, VHD, WIM, XAR, and Z.

7-Zip was the first program to feature the LZMA compression algorithm in its native .7z format invented by Igor Pavlov. The compression ratio achieved by LZMA is much better than traditional formats such as zip and rar (around 30-70% better than zip). Even when using the zip format 7-Zip can achieve higher compression ratios than other programs such as WinZip (around 2-10% better).

Windows integration

7-Zip has an integrated file manager that allows a seamless navigation within compressed archives, similar to Windows Explorer. This allows you to treat archives like regular folders, copying files into and out of compressed archives. Also, 7-Zip adds a Windows Explorer context menu entry to every file and folder, allowing you to easily unpack files by right-clicking on them or creating archives from selected files within a folder.

Among other features, 7-Zip can encrypt and decrypt archives using strong AES-256 encryption and create self-extracting archive files. It is localized into close to 80 different languages.

Summary

7-Zip is an excellent, easy to use file compression tool that achieves very high compression ratios. It integrates well with Windows, making it an indispensable tool for everyday file archiving needs.

Pros

high compression ratios
supports lots of formats
integrates well with Windows

Cons

does not support RAR compression (can uncompress RAR, though)

FAQ

What formats can 7-Zip open and extract?

7-Zip can open and extract over 30 different compressed file formats, including 7z, ZIP, RAR, TAR, and ISO files. It can also create archives in the 7z, ZIP, and TAR formats.

How secure is 7-Zip?

7-Zip uses strong AES-256 encryption in ZIP and 7z formats, making it a secure choice for archiving and compressing files.

Is 7-Zip completely free?

Yes! 7-Zip is completely free and distributed under the GNU LGPL license.

Can I use 7-Zip on a Mac or Linux computer?

Although 7-Zip is primarily developed for Windows, there are unofficial ports available for Mac and Linux systems.

How do I install plugins for 7-Zip?

You can download and install plugins for 7-Zip from the official site. Simply extract the contents of the plugin ZIP file to the "Codecs" folder in your 7-Zip installation directory. The new codec should then be available to use.

What is the maximum file size 7-Zip can handle?

According to the developers, 7-Zip has no built-in file size limit and should be able to handle files as large as your operating system allows.

Can 7-Zip repair corrupted archives?

No, 7-Zip does not have any built-in repair options for corrupted archives. However, there are some third-party tools available that can attempt to repair damaged archives.

Can I use 7-Zip to password-protect my archives?

Yes. You can add a password to your 7-Zip archives by selecting the "Encrypt file names" option when creating a new archive.

How do I create multi-volume archives in 7-Zip?

You can create multi-volume archives by specifying the desired size of each volume in the "Split to volumes, Bytes" field when creating a new archive. For example, entering "500M" would create volumes that are 500 megabytes each.

Michael Ganss

Screenshots (Click to view larger)

Installations

38,924 users of UpdateStar had 7-Zip installed last month.

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