How To Open 7z Files On Windows 7

Yous have virtually certainly encountered archived files at some bespeak—ZIP, RAR, and so on. They look like a single file, simply act a lot more like a package, letting people packet and compress multiple files and folders into a unmarried, smaller file. 7Z files work the same way, and are particular to the popular seven-Zip compression tool.

What Is a 7Z file?

7Z is the file extension used for an archived file created using 7-Zip, a free, open-source file compression tool. 7Z is similar to other archived formats, such as Aught, RAR, and ISO, just uses a higher compression ratio, along with AES-256 encryption.

RELATED: How to Countersign Protect Files and Folders With Encryption

7Z files make it easy to send and download files from the net and help complimentary up space on your hard drive with their loftier compression rate used when archiving. They also back up ridiculous file sizes—theoretically upward to 16 billion GB!

vii-Zip is 1 of the more pop compression tools out there, only most people use it to open or create Zip files rather than using the more proprietary 7Z files. The primary reason for this is compatibility. Pretty much every organisation out there has a way to open ZIP files, and using 7Z files means people actually need to install vii-Nix or another third-party app that supports them to work with the files.

Notwithstanding, it's a solid compression format.

RELATED: What Is A File Extension?

How Exercise I Open up a 7Z file?

While most operating systems take a built-in style to work with Cypher files (and some other pinch formats, like ISO), they don't accept a built-in pick for 7Z files.

If you're using Windows, the all-time manner to open ane y'all've received is to use the gratuitous, open-source 7-Zippo tool. It also happens to exist our favorite pinch tool on Windows, even if you lot're but using it for Nix, ISO, RAR, or other compression formats.

On macOS, The Unarchiver is a great tool (also costless) that handles lots of pinch formats, including 7Z.

RELATED: How to Open 7z and Other Archive Files on OS X

On Linux, you can find various 7-Zip packages for various distros at the bottom of the main 7-Null download folio.

And if these tools don't suit you, at that place are many other tertiary-party apps that tin handle 7Z files for both macOS and Windows.

Opening a 7Z File Using vii-Zip in Windows

We're going to wait at opening 7Z files on Windows here, simply if you're running macOS, you lot can bank check out our full guide on opening 7Z and other archive files on macOS.

Opening a file using 7-Goose egg is extremely easy and tin can be completed in as little as two steps.

After downloading and installing 7-Zip, navigate to the file you want to open. Right-click the file, point to the "7-Aught" submenu, and so click the "Open Archive" command.

This opens seven-aught and displays the contents of the archive. From here, you can excerpt the contents to some other location on your hard drive using the "Extract" button at the top. Or, if there are only a few files yous need from the annal, y'all can just drag and drop them into a File Explorer window.

Choose a new location for the file(southward) to become and click "OK".

Extract 7Z Files Using A Web App

If y'all only have a couple archives to extract, downloading software might non be for you. Luckily, there'southward a skillful online service yous tin can use. They don't store any of your files, and delete them within minutes of extracting them.

Head to B1 Costless Archiver, and on the home page, click the big "Click Here" push button.

In the popup window, navigate to the 7Z file on your computer, and so click the "Open" button.

The site starts the extraction.

Later extraction is complete, you'll come across a list of all the files and folders inside the 7Z file. You tin can download whatever of the files to your computer and view any images from the website using the icons to the right.