For example, PeaZip allows you to create a scheduled task that automatically compresses the files of your choosing in an archive on a schedule, which could be useful for backups. It also includes a lot of advanced features most people won’t need, but some people will appreciate. PeaZip has a more modern looking interface out of the gate. Like 7-Zip, it’s completely free and open-source.

If you find that 7-Zip looks too dated and are considering reaching for your wallet to pay for a WinRAR or WinZip license, don’t. Some people just can’t get over 7-Zip’s interface, even after using the 7-Zip Theme Manager to pretty it up. PeaZip: The Best If You Want Something Prettier or More Powerful

If you don’t like the way 7-Zip looks by default, you can replace the icons and make 7-Zip look better with the 7-Zip Theme Manager. Some people think 7-Zip’s icons look old, outdated, and just generally ugly. RELATED: How to Replace 7-Zip's Ugly Icons with Better-Looking Ones For example, you may want to encrypt your tax returns or other financial documents before storing them somewhere. This makes for an easy method of quickly and securely encrypting your files, too. When compressing to a ZIP or 7z file, 7-Zip allows you to set a password that encrypts the file with secure AES-256 encryption. RELATED: How to Create Encrypted Zip or 7z Archives on Any Operating System However, it also integrates with File Explorer or Windows Explorer, allowing you to easily right-click files and use the 7-Zip menu to extract or compress them in various ways. And, when you encounter an archive file online, 7-Zip can probably open it.ħ-Zip includes its own file manager, which you can use to navigate your file system and extract files. This program’s own 7z format offered the highest compression in our benchmarks, but gives you the freedom of choosing the 7z format for maximum compression or creating ZIP archives for maximum compatibility.

RELATED: Benchmarked: What's the Best File Compression Format? That’s probably more formats than you’ll need. It can also extract (but not create) 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 files. 7-Zip can create and extract 7z, XZ, BZIP2, GZIP, TAR, ZIP, and WIM files. 7-Zip supports a variety of different archive types.

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