A 7z file extension is used for compressed archives created with the 7-Zip archive utility. 7-Zip archives are similar to RAR files, but are using different compression method. Most good archives are able to extract 7zip formats without trouble.
Software that open 7z file
7Z file extension - 7-ZIP compressed 7z archive
What is 7z file? How to open 7z files?
The 7z file extension is used for native file format of 7-ZIP archiver.
7z is the new backup and archive file format, providing high compression ratio.
7-Zip supports encryption with the AES-256 algorithm. This algorithm uses a cipher key with a length of 256 bits. To create that key, 7-Zip runs a derivation function based on a SHA-256 hash algorithm. A key derivation function produces a derived key from the text password entered by the user. To increase the cost of an exhaustive search to crack a password, 7-Zip uses a large number of iterations when it produces a cipher key from a password.
7z file format was developed as as part of the 7-Zip compression utility distributed under the GNU LGPL.
MIME type used for 7z files: application/x-lzma
The main features of 7z file format:
- Open architecture
- High compression ratio
- Strong AES-256 encryption
- Ability of using any compression, conversion or encryption method
- Support for very large files with sizes up to 16000000000 GB
- Unicode file name support
- Solid compression ratio
- Archive headers compression
7z file format has an open architecture, so it can support any new compression methods. LZMA is the default and general compression method of 7z file format.
The main features of LZMA are:
- Variable dictionary size (up to 4 GB)
- Compression speed: about 1 MB/s on 2 GHz CPU
- Decompression speed: about 10-20 MB/s on 2 GHz CPU
- Small memory requirement for decompression (depend from dictionary size)
- Small code size for decompression: about 5 KB
- Supports multi-threading and P4's hyper-threading
The LZMA compression algorithm is very suitable for embedded applications. LZMA is released under the terms of the GNU LGPL.
The default software associated to open 7z file:
Company or developer:
Igor Pavlov
A free file archiver developed by Igor Pavlov featuring higher compression ratios with LZMA and LZMA2 compression.
It is mainly available for Windows platform (for Mac and Linux are available command line tools) and is the primary program to handle 7z archives. However, also supports various compression file formats.
Supported formats:
Packing / unpacking: 7z, XZ, BZIP2, GZIP, TAR, ZIP and WIM
Unpacking only: 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, VMDK, WIM, XAR and Z
List of software applications associated to the .7z file extension
Recommended software programs are sorted by OS platform (Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android etc.)
and possible program actions that can be done with the file: like open 7z file, edit 7z file, convert 7z file, view 7z file, play 7z file etc. (if exist software for corresponding action in File-Extensions.org's database).
Hint:
Click on the tab below to simply browse between the application actions, to quickly get a list of recommended software, which is able to perform the specified software action, such as opening, editing or converting 7z files.
Software that open 7z file - 7-ZIP compressed 7z archive
Programs supporting the exension 7z on the main platforms Windows, Mac, Linux or mobile. Click on the link to get more information about listed programs for open 7z file action.
Microsoft Windows:
Main software associated with 7z file by default:
7-zip
Other suggested software:
WinRAR
PeaZip
Stuffit
StuffIt Deluxe
