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p7zip

By Igor Pavlov / p7zip community · since 2004 · LGPL · official site →

Overview

p7zip is the Unix port of 7-Zip's command-line tool. It provides the 7z and 7za executables on Linux, macOS, and BSD. Most distributions ship it as the p7zip-full package.

Best for

Linux/macOS users who need 7z compatibility on the command line.

Limitations

Project went unmaintained for years; the 7-Zip 21.x official Linux port is now preferred where available.

Supported formats — create

p7zip can create the following archive formats:

7zZIPTARGZIPBZIP2XZ

Supported formats — extract

p7zip can extract:

7zZIPRARTARGZIPBZIP2XZCABISOMSIDEBRPMARJLZH

Installation

Where to download

The official download is at https://sourceforge.net/projects/p7zip/. Avoid third-party download sites — they often bundle adware or worse with otherwise legitimate archivers.

Operating systems supported

LinuxmacOSBSD

How to use p7zip

Extracting an archive

  1. Locate the archive in your file manager (or terminal).
  2. Right-click and choose the p7zip entry, or run the equivalent CLI command.
  3. Pick a destination folder.
  4. Wait for extraction to complete — speed depends on archive size and chosen algorithm.

Creating an archive

  1. Select the files or folders you want to bundle.
  2. Open p7zip and choose Add (or drag the selection onto its window/dock icon).
  3. Pick a target format from the supported list above.
  4. Optionally set a password — prefer AES-256 over legacy algorithms.
  5. Click OK and wait for compression to complete.

Alternatives

If p7zip is not the right fit, consider these alternatives covered in our software directory: