7-Zip is a popular and free file compression program that is namely responsible for introducing the 7z archive to the computer world. 7-Zip is quite reminiscent of one of our higher rated programs, WinRAR, in interface and functionality. For a free program, 7-Zip is a decent file archiver that can compress and extract a variety of archive and file types. However, 7-Zip’s standard feature set and overall user friendliness kept it from ranking higher.

A command line version of 7-Zip is also available for Mac and Linux operating systems.

7-Zip includes a number of common file compression features like password protection, multi-volume support and integration with Outlook. However, 7-Zip doesn’t have anything particular that makes it stand out among the rest of the file compression pack.

Like most file compression software, 7-Zip does have full support with Windows Explorer and you can access almost any 7-Zip function by using right-click. You can also batch compress or extract using hotkeys and drag and drop; however, 7-Zip does not include this feature directly in the application. Additionally, 7-Zip supports the creation of self-extracting archives, but you have to download additional modules or plugins from the 7-Zip website. In future versions, we’d like to see 7-Zip include integrated support of batch conversion and extraction, the ability to convert archives and display overall compression ratio.

Compression: Excellent
7-Zip’s overall ZIP compression ratio was good and ever so slightly out performed WinZip’s “Legacy” compression option in our compression test. Like all of our file compression software, the best compression was in the Word and Excel files.

However, 7-Zip best performance occurs when using their 7z format. When using 7-Zip, 7z’s overall compression was about 17% better than the ZIP compression. Additionally, the 7z compression was on par with WinZip’s “Best” ZIP compression.

Compression Formats: Excellent
Compared to the other file compression software we reviewed, 7-Zip has a significantly smaller selection of compression options. Although it covers the basics like ZIP, the only other native compression it supports is for 7z and TAR. Although these formats are sufficient for most uses, we would like to see 7-Zip broaden its selection just a bit.

Extraction Formats: Excellent
Contrary to 7-Zip’s limited compression options, its extraction options are quite large. 7-Zip supports the extraction of 22 different archives and file formats including the popular ZIP and RAR formats.
Ease of Use: Excellent

7-Zip’s interface is very similar WinRAR and though not particularly difficult to understand, it does take a little trial and error to get used to. 7-Zip does include drag and drop functionality which makes creating new archives easier, but it does not include a Wizard.

Help and Support: Excellent
Like most free software, 7-Zip’s support is limited. Although it includes a built-in user guide and online forums, there is no active customer support through email or telephone. However, we found that the forums are active and many of your questions can be answered there, but unfortunately, we couldn’t find a way to “search” the forums for specific terms or topics.

Summary:
7-Zip is a decent and free file compression program that includes all the basic functions you’d expect to see in a file archiver. However, it is probably better suited for those who are a little more familiar with file compression.