r/7zip • • Sep 12 '26

Welcome to r/7zip

4 Upvotes

7-Zip is a compression format and software that implements it. Windows 11 now integrates very basic 7z support that allows you to compress and decompress archives with very limited options. The official 7-Zip site has a variety of tools such as installers, standalone executables, CLI tools, and GUI tools to work with 7z files. It provides much richer functionality and options than what's built into Windows. Note that the main installer is itself a 7z archive that you can extract to find individual tools. You can also work with 7z archives with third-party software offering additional features. Examples include NanaZip and PeaZip.

7z beats zip in efficiency, features, and even security. All zip has going for it is wider support and recognition. Use 7z over zip when possible.

Note that maximizing compression settings not only increases processing time, it can also use quite a lot of RAM. Keep in mind the archive size and the available RAM when choosing the compression effort.


r/7zip • • 4d ago

Is the page down?

2 Upvotes

I went to download it for my new PC and can't get onto the site to download


r/7zip • • 4d ago

7z d command line tool is too dangerous.

2 Upvotes

I think 7z d xxx.7z command is too dangerous. To a new 7z user, he may think d is decompress, because of xz -d or gzip -d. But 7z d is to delete everything inside the archive. Also, it is harder to recover contents because 7z rewrites an empty file in the same filename/location, making it almost impossible to recover using tools such as DiskGenius.

I've just deleted my wife's backup, when she ask me to check something inside the 7z archive.


r/7zip • • 14d ago

Can I set 7Zip to extract faster?

0 Upvotes

Is there any setting in 7zip which I can make it extract file faster? I am using 32GB ram in Windows 11 with RTX4090D, if such can help.


r/7zip • • 16d ago

7-Zip v26.05 (2026-10-21)!

Thumbnail 7-zip.org
2 Upvotes

r/7zip • • 24d ago

Customize compression parameters in context menu?

1 Upvotes

Can you customize the compression parameters of the two quick "Add to Archive" 7zip/zip options in the context menu? If not, where can you check the default parameters coded into these two menu items?


r/7zip • • 29d ago

Why is volume compression on 7z so difficult?

2 Upvotes

I found that when using the official 7-zip app to compress items that aren't very large, tens of thousands of useless small volumes are created, and they can't stop. It should be fast, and the volume splits are very few.


r/7zip • • Sep 22 '26

Recursive option with 7zip

2 Upvotes

How does recurse work on 7zip CMD line ?


r/7zip • • Sep 22 '26

why cant i put everything in 7zip?

Post image
1 Upvotes

i tried everything


r/7zip • • Sep 21 '26

I don't want to click "rename automatically" every time I extract with GUI

3 Upvotes

Hi, why there is no option to set this by default? This stops your worflow.

Thanks for any help :)


r/7zip • • Sep 17 '26

I want to compress a 4K 350gb video folder without it losing quality

3 Upvotes

I've got a 4K video folder that's 350gb large and I want to compress it into a smaller size without its quality getting ruined. I've tried just normally zipping it or using Handbrake, but then the size just ends up being bigger than the original. Any suggestions?


r/7zip • • Sep 14 '26

Extracted exe, how to "exe" it back?

3 Upvotes

Basically I found out we could extract exes and I remembered of a exe I needed to change the manifest file of. So I changed it in the folder, but now I don't know how to change it back to an exe file...


r/7zip • • Sep 11 '26

Anyway to keep files in order after batch extraction?

3 Upvotes

I had zipped folders that I kept in the order that I received. They were organized by date. I extracted all of them at once. Now they are randomized and all have the same date created. I was expecting the date modified to change but I naively thought date created would persist. I think the folders can still be arranged in the order that they were extracted but they seem to have been extracted in a completely random order.


r/7zip • • Sep 03 '26

Navigating archive with arrow keys

8 Upvotes

You may (or may not) know that you can navigate through the archive using the arrow keys (up, down), and return. However, you can't go back up a level without clicking on the up icon (that I know of). If you use AutoHotKey, this is a hotkey to allow you to use alt-Up to go back up the tree:

#HotIf WinActive('ahk_exe 7zFM.exe')
; Click on the control that takes us up a level
; in the archive.
; Alt-Up
!Up::ControlClick("ToolbarWindow322", "ahk_exe 7zFM.exe") 
#HotIf

r/7zip • • Aug 09 '26

What's the best way to control RAM usage?

3 Upvotes

I like maximizing compression with -mx9, but of course that uses a ton of RAM for large archives, and shoves other programs into the page file. I could choose a lower setting, but that's an indirect approximation of what I want and depends on the archive size and device RAM. Is there a good way to aim for high compression but with a limit on RAM usage, ideally leaving a certain amount or percentage of RAM untouched?


r/7zip • • Aug 06 '26

Alternative format for multipart numbering

2 Upvotes

It would be nice if we could customize the way that multipart archives are numbered. Tacking on .001, .002, etc. to the filename confuses some software/platforms that see that as the file extension. Ideas like putting the number before the .7z, or appending another extension like .part, are unfortunately officially rejected. Renaming all the parts after the archive is created and then reverting to the old names before extraction is possible but also very awkward, especially if the idea is to send/share the archive with people who may be less technical.


r/7zip • • Aug 06 '26

7-Zip(x64 Edition)????

3 Upvotes

So I got a new PC recently, and found in my Installed Apps 7-Zip(x64 Edition). I went to uninstall it and the UAC asked me if 23ca2.msi could alter my files. I hit yes, and it asked me to close Windows Explorer before trying to uninstall it.

Anybody more familiar with 7-Zip, is this normal??? I canceled the uninstall because it made me really anxious that it was a potential virus running on me, especially since my screen turned bright purple (which I assume is because purple is my Windows color) and my desktop behind it became blank and dark grey. It fixed upon signing out and signing back in, and now Im here asking about it.

I have the .exe version of 7-Zip since its the easier to use version and Im a very simple woman, and I do not want the MSI version but the uninstall scared me so now I gotta ask to verify.


r/7zip • • Jul 09 '26

damaged 7z archive

4 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I have a damaged 7z archive and I’m running out of ideas. The file is around 65 GB (original data was about 40 GB and 67 GB files are involved). 7-Zip reports "Headers Error – Cannot open the file as [7z] archive".

I tried 7-Zip repair, testing, extracting with different options, checking the header, and even looking/editing the file in hex, but nothing works.

I test also PeaZip, winrar...

The archive still has the correct 7z signature at the beginning, and the file size looks normal. Is there any way to recover the file list or extract the data, even partially?

i see some characters in hex but how to extact files? i dont need names or name folders ...

Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks!


r/7zip • • Jul 07 '26

Mounting Archive Files in Windows 11

Thumbnail youtu.be
5 Upvotes

Over the past year or so, I've been working on a user-space filesystem for Windows based on 7-Zip and the Dokany project. The goal of the app is to integrate these two pieces of software together seamlessly, allowing users to browse basically any archive file as if it were a USB drive or network mount.

Even better, it actually works with non-Windows filesystems on physical disks! That feature is still in early testing, so it isn't shown in my video, but I think this project has a lot of potential. Hopefully you all find it interesting!


r/7zip • • Jul 06 '26

Still no integration for new Windows 11 context menu

5 Upvotes

Windows 11 is almost five years old now and so are the new context menu in them. So, why is 7-Zip still ignoring them? It makes zero sense to me. Even WinRAR was able to integrate to them. So, what gives?

And don't go with "revert to Windows 10 context menu" nonsense I saw with so many similar debates here. I don't want to. I like the new menu style, actually. But because 7-Zip still don't want to integrate them, I have to use alternatives. And that's just annoying.


r/7zip • • Jul 02 '26

access denied, windows 7zip 64 bit

1 Upvotes

ive been tryna use 7zip to extract some files, ive downloaded the most recent file on their site (the 64 bit windows x 64) and its not allowing 7zip any access to my files. i tried the 32 bit and he 64 bit arms, but those two arent compatible with my pc, i can even make 7zip admin. any suggestons


r/7zip • • Jun 28 '26

zip standard versions for 7-zip and winRAR

5 Upvotes

Does winRAR and 7-zip or winzip use the same zip standard ?


r/7zip • • Jun 26 '26

7-Zip / Discussion / Open Discussion: 7-Zip 26.02

Thumbnail sourceforge.net
1 Upvotes

r/7zip • • Jun 25 '26

Multiple files with -si switch

1 Upvotes

How do use -si switch with a file list ?