7-Zip File Extractor Review

This free zip/unzip tool integrates with File Explorer and supports encryption

By
Stacy Fisher
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Stacy Fisher
Technology Educator
  • Emporia State University
Stacy is a professional technology educator with over 25 years' experience. She has published hundreds of articles, co-authored a book, and has appeared on national and local TV.
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Updated on December 22, 2022

7-Zip is a free file extractor program compatible with Windows 11 and earlier, as well as Linux and macOS via the command line. It can make archives with the 7Z file extension and offers a range of features, including useful Windows integration, encryption capabilities, and the ability to repair damaged archives and password protect them.

While Windows does have a built-in compression tool, it's limited to reading and creating ZIP files. 7-Zip is a useful alternative for those who need additional compression and extraction capabilities.

It's licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License and can be freely shared and distributed. Ukrainian freelance programmer Igor Pavlov owns the 7-Zip Copyright (C) and released the beta version in January 1999.

list of files in 7-Zip
What We Like

  • Can be used in a commercial environment.

  • Supports both a graphical user interface and a command-line interface.

  • One-click installer; setup doesn't try to install extra software.

  • Long list of language support.

  • Favorite folders for easy access.

What We Don't Like

  • No portable option available from the developer.

7-Zip Features

This program is my all-time favorite file unzipper. After having used it for years, these are some other features that I think are worth mentioning:

  • Integrates with the File Explorer context menu
  • Associate the program with any file extension of your choosing to make opening files easier
  • Supports encryption when creating new archives
  • Can build self-extracting executable archives
  • Can calculate checksums from the context menu
  • For ZIP and GZIP formats, 7-Zip provides a compression ratio that is 2-10 percent better than the ratio provided by PKZip and WinZip
  • Strong AES-256 encryption in 7z and ZIP formats
  • Self-extracting capability for 7z format
  • Supports dozens of languages

Compatible Formats

These are the file extensions 7-Zip supports:

Packing & Unpacking

7z, XZ, BZIP2, GZIP, TAR, ZIP, WIM

Unpacking Only

APFS, AR, ARJ, CAB, CHM, CPIO, CramFS, DMG, EXT, FAT, GPT, HFS, IHEX, ISO, LZH, LZMA, MBR, MSI, NSIS, NTFS, QCOW2, RAR, RPM, SquashFS, UDF, UEFI, VDI, VHD, VHDX, VMDK, XAR, Z

Security Options

Can password-protect 7Z and ZIP archive formats with 256-bit AES encryption.

My 7-Zip Review

7-Zip is a user-friendly decompression software program that allows users to easily extract and create archives, even though it doesn't support as many file formats as PeaZip. It integrates seamlessly with the Windows Shell, making it straightforward to extract archives by right-clicking them.

I also like that this program includes a built-in file browser that can locate and extract archives, and lets me test the integrity of an archive. Since the file browser is basically the same as File Explorer, you can also choose to use the Windows Shell integration to create and extract archive files rather than having to open the full program. Using File Explorer can speed up the decompression process.

While the official 7-Zip website doesn't include a portable setup, you can grab one at PortableApps.com. If you service friends' computers, using 7-Zip Portable from a flash drive will definitely come in handy.

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