How to open and unzip 7z files

Have a 7z file and don't know how to open it? Not sure what a 7z file is? These types of files are used when there is an urgent need to compress many files into a single archive. Now, you will need an application to be able to decompress this file. We tell you all about the 7z o 7-Zip.

What is a 7z or 7-Zip file

A 7z file extension is compressed files created with 7-Zip open source software, such as, WinZIP. These files are used to compress data without loss, which allows reducing the size of files / archives while preserving their quality.

Thus, a 7z file allows us to pack and compress files to facilitate the distribution o Backup thereof. One difference it has with other formats such as RAR or ZIP is that the 7z have a higher compression ratio.

How to Open and Unzip 7z or 7-Zip Files

As we have already said, in order to open and decompress / compress these types of files, an external program will be necessary to allow us to do so. In this post we will show you several tools to open these files, both for downloading and for using online.

7-Zip (Windows and Mac OS)

7-Zip is a fantastic tool for working with these types of files. In order to enjoy its multiple functionalities and unzip files and open them, we will do the following steps:

• Come in and download 7-Zip on your website
• We run the application and follow the installation steps.
• We right-click on the 7z file that we want to open and click on To open with and we select 7-Zip. We can also open the file from within the application by clicking on Add o Fillet and select the file in question.
• Once we have the 7z within the application, we select it and click on Excerpt.
• We select the destination folder and click OK.
• We accept and ready, unzipped files.
• This application is free.

WinZIP (Windows y MacOS)

In order to open and decompress 1z files with WinZIP, we must follow the following steps:

• Enter the official page of the application and download WinZIP.
• Install and run the application.
• For decompress a 7z file, you must enter the folder from the application from Archive> Open.
• We select the files within the 7z that we want and click on Decompress. 
• We indicate the destination folder to save the extracted files.
• Click on Decompress and ready.
• This application has a free trial version.

WinRAR (Windows and Mac OS)

WinRAR is just as efficient at decompressing 7z files as all the previous ones, it not only works with RAR or ZIP. In order to decompress files with WinRAR we will follow practically the same steps as with WinZip:

• Download and install WinRAR from their website.
• Once we install the application, we select the files that we want to decompress by opening them from the application. We can also right-click on the file and click on To open with and we select WinRAR.
• We click on the icon Extract in (top of the window).
• We select the destination folder and click on accept.
• WinRAR is paid, but offers a free trial version.

The Unarchiver (Mac OS)

We also have a powerful tool for Mac users to open and unzip 7z files called The Unarchiver. In order to carry it out, we will do the following:

• We open the Apple Store on the Mac and look for the name of the application: The Unarchiver.
• We download and install the application on our computer.
• When we open the application, we will get a list of File Formats, where we must select 7-Zip file.
• Let's go to the tab Extraction and in the drop-down menu we select Ask for a destination folder. Here we will select the destination folder for the extracted files.
• Now we go to the 7z file in question, right click and To open with The Unarchiver.
• We choose the destination folder and click on Extract.
• Ready, we already have the 7z files extracted.

PeaZIP (Windows, Linux)

PeaZIP is free software compatible with Windows and Linux, so if you are a user of the latter operating system, this is your tool. To open and unzip 7z files with PeaZIP, we will follow these simple steps:

• We download and install PeaZIP in our team. It also has a portable version.
• Within the application, we look for the 7z file that we want to unzip and select it.
• We continue with the intuitive extraction process and select the destination folder for the extracted files.
• We save and go, easy and simple.

EzyZip, online tool

If we are not in favor of downloading third-party programs to be able to open / decompress the z 7z file, we can also use an online tool called EzyZip. To do this, we will do the following:

• We enter the EzyZip website and we will see that we can do three things: Compress, Unzip and Convert.
• To open a 7z file, we will click on Select File.
• Once we have selected our file, we click on Extract.
• After the action is completed, we keep the / the extracted files in the destination folder that we want.
• EzyZip is available on Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Android, iOS ...

Besides EzyZip, we can also use other online tools to unzip 7z files, such as: extract.me, Convertio.co, CloudConvert, etc.

7z and other similar formats

It is likely that when you go to work with this type of compressed files you will find yourself different formats: RAR, 7z, ZIP, XXencoded, CAB, etc. With tools like the ones we have mentioned above we can work to extract compressed files of multiple formats:

• RAR
• 7Z
• BZ2
• LHA and LZH
• CAB
• ISO and IMG
• TAR
• GZ, TAZ, and TGZ
• TZ and Z
• UUencoded and XXencoded
• MIME
• BinHex
• zipx, zip

What is a file for in 7z

Compress and create a file in 7z It offers us many advantages, among which the following stand out:

• Saving a 7z file allows us compress many files into one by reducing the size and without losing quality some of the files.
• When we compress a file, neither the content nor the structure of the files is affected. It simply reduces the space it occupies.
• With a 7z we can send multiple files by email without worrying about the weight of the file.
• It allows us to create a password or encrypt the file to protect the confidentiality of documents / files.

As we can see, there are many tools to open and decompress 7z files, some paid and others free. In principle, each and every one of the tools that we have mentioned in the article should meet your expectations.