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.
7-Zip Features
Here are some other features worth mentioning:
Integrates with the File Explorer context menuAssociate the program with any file extension of your choosing to make opening files easierSupports encryption when creating new archivesCan build self-extracting executable archivesCan calculate checksums from the context menuFor ZIP and GZIP formats, 7-Zip provides a compression ratio that is 2-10 percent better than the ratio provided by PKZip and WinZipStrong AES-256 encryption in 7z and ZIP formatsSelf-extracting capability for 7z formatSupports 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.
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.
The program also includes a built-in file browser that can locate and extract archives, and allows users to 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 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.
