Compression
7z
High-compression file archiver supporting 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2, TAR, and more.
Synopsis
syntax
7z [COMMAND] [OPTION]... ARCHIVE [FILE]...
Examples
Create 7z archive
7z a archive.7z dir/
Extract archive with directory structure
7z x archive.7z
List archive contents
7z l archive.7z
Maximum compression with password
7z a -mx=9 -p backup.7z data/
Common options
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
| a | Add files to archive |
| x | Extract with full paths |
| l | List archive contents |
| -p | Set password |
| -mx | Compression level (0-9) |
About 7z
The `7z` command high-compression file archiver supporting 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2, TAR, and more. Compression commands reduce file sizes for storage and transfer.
Linux supports multiple compression formats, each with different speed and ratio trade-offs. Understanding these tools is essential for working with archives, backups, log rotation, and software distribution packages.
The command accepts 5 commonly used flags shown above, though the full set of options is available in the man page (`man 7z`). The 4 examples on this page cover typical real-world usage patterns that you can copy and adapt for your own workflows.
Related commands
More Compression Commands
Other commands in the Compression category