7-Zip

The archiver that quietly beats almost everything on compression ratio, handling every format worth naming, with shell integration, strong encryption, and no nag screen of any kind.

Version 26.02 2 MB Windows 10 / 11 (64-bit) Updated 3 days ago

Overview

What this release is

There is a reason this tool has sat on virtually every technical machine for two decades. The compression ratio on its native format is still better than the commercial alternatives on most real world data, the extraction support covers essentially every archive format a person will encounter, and the whole application is a couple of megabytes with no background service, no updater nagging, and no upsell screen when the extraction finishes.

The 26 series brought a meaningful speed improvement to the multithreaded compressor. Large archives built on many core machines now scale much closer to the core count than they used to, and memory use during compression at high dictionary sizes has been brought down. Decompression of archives created by other tools has also been tightened, particularly for the newer formats that arrived with modern operating systems.

Encryption uses AES with a 256 bit key and can encrypt the file names as well as the contents, so an archive gives away nothing about what it contains. Split archives, self extracting output, and solid compression across a set of similar files are all standard, and the command line version included alongside makes it straightforward to build into scripts and scheduled jobs.

Shell integration puts everything one right click away, with a cascading menu that can be trimmed down if you only ever use two or three operations. The file manager built into the application handles nested archives directly, so an archive inside an archive opens without being extracted to a temporary folder first.

Feature set

What you get

Compression ratio

Native format compression that still outperforms most commercial archivers on typical mixed data sets.

Format coverage

Extracts essentially every archive format in circulation, including disk images and installer packages.

Strong encryption

AES with a 256 bit key, with optional file name encryption so the archive contents stay private.

Shell integration

Right click menu with a trimmable entry list, plus drag and drop straight into and out of archives.

Command line tool

The console version ships alongside, making scripted and scheduled archiving straightforward.

Built in manager

A two panel file manager that opens nested archives in place without extracting to a temporary folder.

Changes in this build

What changed

Multithreaded compression scales considerably better on high core count processors
Reduced memory use when compressing with large dictionary sizes
Improved extraction compatibility with archives from recent third party tools
Context menu entries can now be enabled and disabled individually
Fixed the path handling that failed on archives containing very deep folder trees

Installation

How to install it

Extract or run the installer directly. The package is small and installs in a few seconds.
Run as administrator if you want the shell integration registered for every user on the machine.
Open the options window and set which formats it should associate itself with, since it claims none by default.
Trim the context menu entries under the options window if the full cascading list is more than you need.
No key, account, or activation step exists at any point.

Hardware

System requirements

Processor	Any 32-bit or 64-bit processor, more cores improve compression speed
Memory	512 MB minimum, more for very large dictionary sizes
Graphics	Not applicable
Storage	10 MB free space plus room for archives
Display	Any resolution
System	Windows 10, Windows 11, and older releases back several generations

Package

Release information

Title	7-Zip
Version	26.02
Developer	Igor Pavlov
Category	System Utilities
Platform	Windows 10 / 11 (64-bit)
Package size	2 MB
Interface languages	Multilingual (87 interface languages)
Release identifier	BS-26020001
Listed	4 years ago
Last rebuilt	3 days ago
Total downloads	154,862

Questions

Before you start

Is there any cost or limitation at all?

None. The full feature set is available and there is no trial state, watermark, or nag screen.

Which format should be used for best compression?

The native format with a large dictionary compresses hardest. Use zip only when the recipient needs it.

Does it handle archives larger than four gigabytes?

Yes, both reading and writing, provided the target file system supports the size.

Can it repair a damaged archive?

Partially. It extracts what remains readable, and recovery records if the archive was created with them help considerably.