How to use 7-Zip on Windows 11

The world of file archivers and extractors is full to the brim, and there’s hardly anybody to separate the wheat from the chaff. Fortunately, there are just a few contenders that make themselves shine brighter than the remainder and stand head and shoulders above their counterparts. 7-Zip is one such instance. 

What can it do and how will you apply it to your Windows 11 PC? Read on to seek out out.

What is 7-Zip?

7-Zip is an open-source file-archiving utility that may compress and extract information in numerous codecs, with or with out passwords. It supplies a number of the best compression charges, could be built-in with command terminals, and is totally free, in contrast to different related functions akin to WinRar which price about $30 for lifetime entry. 

7-Zip has loved good reputation amongst Windows customers and is among the first few functions one installs after a contemporary Windows set up. If you haven’t finished so but, study it more beneath.

How to obtain 7-Zip for Windows 11

First up, comply with the hyperlink given beneath to obtain 7-Zip for Windows 11.

Download: 7-Zip

On the obtain web page, click on on the ‘Download’ hyperlink next to 64-bit Windows x64 (first hyperlink).

Wait for the file to obtain.   

How to put in 7-Zip on Windows 11

Installing 7-Zip is as straightforward as downloading it. Simply run the downloaded 7-Zip setup file and click on on Install.

This will take just a few seconds. Once finished, click on Close.

Now, allow us to see how we will use 7-Zip to extract information. 

If you wish to extract information however keep them nicely organized inside a separate folder, right here’s what to do:

Right-click on the archived file and choose Show more choices.
This will open up the outdated Windows context menu. Hover over 7 zip after which choose “Extract to (folder name)”.
This will create a folder by the identical identify because the archived file you’re extracting, and the information shall be extracted inside it.   
If the archive is password protected, you’ll be prompted to enter the password earlier than the extraction can start. Type the password and click on on OK.

If you wish to extract the archived file throughout the identical folder, comply with the steps beneath:

Right-click on the archived file and choose Show more choices.
Hover over 7 zip after which choose “Extract here”.

The information will now be extracted throughout the identical folder that hosts the archive.

To extract information inside a specific folder in a unique location, comply with the steps beneath:

Right-click on the archived file and choose Show more choices.
Hover over 7 zip after which choose “Extract files…”
This will open up a small extraction window. Click on the ellipsis icon (…) next to the “Extract to” discipline.
Then browse to the situation the place you wish to extract and save the information. Select it and click on on OK.
If you wish to create a brand new folder inside a location, click on on Make New Folder.
Give this folder a reputation.
Then choose it and click on on OK.
Now click on on OK once more to begin the extraction.

How to compress or archive information using 7-Zip

Other than extraction, the opposite vital bit to be taught when using 7-Zip is how to make use of it to compress and archive information. Here are the completely different archiving situations that you must know:   

Archive a folder

1. To archive a complete folder, right-click on it and choose Show more choices.
   
2. Now hover over 7 zip to see further choices. Here, you will notice the choices to “Archive to .zip” and “Archive to .7z” for fast archiving.
   
3. But 7-Zip may also archive to 2 different file sorts –  tar and wim. Choose “Add to archive” to set customized archive settings.
   
4. In the ‘Add to Archive’ window, click on on the drop-down menu next to “Archive format” and choose the file archive kind.
   
5. You may also cut up the archived file into a number of volumes if the general dimension is just too large, as an illustration. To do that, click on on the drop-down menu below “Split to volumes, bytes”.
   
6. Select the scale of the volumes (M represents MBs).
   
7. Once you’re finished with the archive settings, click on OK.
   
8. Your information will now be archived based mostly in your settings within the format of your selection.

To learn to encrypt your archives with a password or compress your information to save lots of house, or time, try the later sections – “How to archive and encrypt files with a password” and “How to use the best compression”.             

Archive a single file

1. To archive a single file, right-click on it and choose Show more choices.
   
2. Then go to 7-zip and choose “Add to .zip” or “Add to .7z”.
   
3. If you wish to archive to a different format or change the settings as proven within the earlier part, then choose “Add to archive…”.
   
4. If you selected “Add to archive”, choose your customized archive settings (as proven earlier) and click on OK to start the archiving course of. 

Archive information

The steps for archiving a number of information are just like those talked about above. The solely distinction right here is that as an alternative of a single file or folder, we’ll be choosing a number of information to archive.

1. Navigate to the information that you simply wish to archive, choose them, after which right-click on considered one of them.
2. Now choose Show more choices.
   
3. Now go to 7-zip and choose the way you wish to archive these information by choosing the pre-determined .zip and .7z archive settings… 
   
4. Or choose “Add to archive”.
   
5. Now go about choosing your customized archive settings (as proven earlier) and start archiving. 

Archive and encrypt information with a password

1. To encrypt your archives with a password, choose the “Add to archive” choice from the 7-zip context menu.
   
2. Then, within the ‘Add to Archive’ window, be sure you select both the 7z or zip because the Archive format, as these are the one two file codecs that may be encrypted. 
3. If you select the .zip format, you’ll be capable of select between two encryption strategies – ZipCrypto and AES-256.
4. On the opposite hand, in case you select the .7-Zip format, you’ll solely have the AES-256 encryption choice however you’ll be capable of Encrypt file names as nicely.
   
   Regardless of the format that you simply select, it’s endorsed to stay with the AES-256 encryption algorithm because it is among the strongest encryptions on the market that can not be decrypted with out the proper password.
5. Once you might have your selection of archive format, click on on the “Enter password” below Encryption, and sort your password.
   
6. Then reenter the password to substantiate.
   
7. Then click on OK.
   

And that’s it.  Your information are actually encrypted with a password. 

How to make use of the most effective compression

The best compression methodology is the one which saves probably the most house.

1. To set the most effective compression settings, firstly, right-click on the file(s) that you simply wish to compress and click on on Show more choices.
   
2. Then choose 7-zip and click on on Add to archive.
   
   This will open up the “Add to Archive” window.
3. 7-Zip presents 9 compression ranges, starting from ‘Store’ to ‘Ultra’, and 4 compression strategies with completely different algorithm languages – LZMA, LZMA2, PPMd, BZip2. To get the most effective compression charges, use the next settings whereas archiving your information:
   

• Archive format – 7z
• Compression degree – 9 – Ultra
• Compression Method – LZMA or LZMA2
• Number of CPU Threads – 2 or decrease (in case you select any more, the compression work shall be cut up up between CPU threads in chunks, and these chunks shall be compressed individually, so that you gained’t get the most effective compression charges). 

How to compress within the quickest means

In case you need to compress a file quick, you need to depend on the compression strategies and settings that reduce down compression time. Here are the settings you must use to compress information within the quickest means:

• Archive format – 7z
• Compression degree – 1 – Fastest
• Compression Method – LZMA2 or BZIP2
• Number of CPU Threads – 1

With these settings, you’ll get the quickest compression speeds on 7-Zip. 

The 7-zip context menu incorporates just a few objects by default. If you wish to change these so that you simply see probably the most applicable ones to your use, comply with the steps beneath:

Open 7-zip and click on on Tools, then Options.
Then, click on on the 7-zip tab.
Here, choose the objects that you simply wish to seem within the context menu in order that there’s a tick next to them.
Once finished, click on “OK” and shut 7-zip.

It could be fairly cumbersome navigating to 7-Zip from the outdated Windows context menu. There is, nonetheless, a means so as to add 7-Zip to the brand new, restricted context menu of Windows 11 itself so that you simply don’t at all times must undergo the “See more options” button to extract or compress information.
For this, we’ll be downloading the app “Nanazip”. NanaZip is a 7-zip fork, in that it has the identical supply code because the 7-zip software program which implies it mainly is 7-zip.
BTW, one other solution to overcome this problem and nonetheless use 7-Zip solely as an alternative of Nanazip software program is to switch the brand new context menu on Windows 11 with the outdated one from Windows 10 itself.
Read: How to get back the outdated Windows 11 context menu

But in case you like the brand new context menu and would wish to add the choices to compress and archive information and folders from itself solely, then you should utilize Nanazip for this.
Here’s how to go about putting in Nanazip and including it to the context menu.

Press Start, kind Microsoft Store, and hit Enter. 
In the search bar above, kind NanaZip and choose it from the outcomes.
Click on Get.
Once it’s downloaded and put in, shut Microsoft Store. Then press Win+I to open the Settings app. Select Apps from the left pane.
Then click on on Default apps.
Under “Set a default for a file type or link type”, kind .zip and choose it.
Click on the outcome (Windows Explorer must be the default in case you don’t have some other apps related to the format). 
Then choose 7-zip File Manager and click on on Set default.
Do this to your most used archive file codecs, akin to .rar, .7z, .tar, and so forth.
And identical to that, you might have added 7-Zip to the Context Menu for extracting and archiving information. You can try Nanazip from the context menu now. Just right-click on any file and hover over Nanazip.

The context menu objects are the identical as with 7-zip and so they mix nicely with the Windows 11 theme.  
How to make 7-Zip the default app for zip and rar information solely

Once put in, the very first thing to do is to make 7-Zip the default app for .zip and .rar file extensions, that are the most typical varieties of archived information you’ll encounter. Here’s how:

1. Press Start, kind ‘7-Zip‘, and open the app.
   
2. Click on Tools within the toolbar on the prime.
   
3. Then choose Options.
   
4. Here, below your username, click on within the house next to zip and rar and they’ll instantly be related to 7-zip because the default app.
   
5. To make it the default for zip and rar information for all customers, click on next to the codecs below ‘All users’.
   
6. Once finished, click on OK.
   

How to make 7-Zip the default app for all archive file codecs

1. In the identical “Options” window of the app, click on on the ‘+‘ icon above your username to make it the default app for all of the file sorts for the present person.
   
2. Then click on OK.
   
   Note: If you get the ‘Access is denied’ message, run 7-Zip as Administrator (right-click on 7-Zip and choose ‘Run as administrator’).
3. To make 7-Zip the default app for all customers, click on on the ‘+‘ icon above ‘All users’.
   
4. Then click on OK.
   
5. If you wish to disassociate a specific file kind, choose it and click on on the ‘+‘ icon once more to undo the change.
   
6. You ought to see the 7-zip marker faraway from the chosen file kind.
   

Archiving functions are a dime a dozen, however some like 7-zip have remained a favourite amongst PC customers for numerous causes, starting from its open-source code to its compression charges and superior encryption. We hope this information helped you with all issues 7-zip on Windows 11.