How to extract 7z file in Linux

A 7-Zip file with the extension .7z is a compressed file format that can be extracted using p7zip tool in Linux. p7zip is available for most Linux systems and can easily be installed at the terminal. Once installed, 7-Zip files can then be extracted from the terminal or supporting GUI-based file explorer applications such as Nautilus for GNOME or Dolphin for KDE.

Extract 7-Zip file in Linux:

1. Launch terminal application.
2. Install p7zip (optional, if not already installed).

   $ sudo apt update && sudo apt install --assume-yes p7zip-full #Ubuntu and Debian
   [sudo] password for user:
   ##### snipped
   The following additional packages will be installed:
     p7zip
   Suggested packages:
     p7zip-rar
   The following NEW packages will be installed:
     p7zip p7zip-full
   0 upgraded, 2 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
   Need to get 1,546 kB of archives.
   After this operation, 5,908 kB of additional disk space will be used.
   ##### snipped

   $ sudo yum install --assumeyes epel-release && sudo yum install --assumeyes p7zip # CentOS and Red Hat

3. Create folder where you want to extract the file onto (optional).

   $ mkdir target_directory

4. Go to the target directory where you want to extract the file onto (optional).

   $ cd target_directory

5. Extract using 7z command.

   ~/target_directory$ 7z x ~/archive.7z
   
   7-Zip [64] 16.02 : Copyright (c) 1999-2016 Igor Pavlov : 2016-05-21
   p7zip Version 16.02 (locale=en_US.UTF-8,Utf16=on,HugeFiles=on,64 bits,2 CPUs Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-9880H CPU @ 2.30GHz (906ED),ASM,AES-NI)
   
   Scanning the drive for archives:
   1 file, 189 bytes (1 KiB)
   
   Extracting archive: /home/user/archive.7z
   --
   Path = /home/user/archive.7z
   Type = 7z
   Physical Size = 189
   Headers Size = 189
   Solid = -
   Blocks = 0
   
   Everything is Ok
   
   Folders: 3
   Files: 4
   Size:       0
   Compressed: 189

   Common options for 7z command:

   $ 7z --help
   
   7-Zip [64] 16.02 : Copyright (c) 1999-2016 Igor Pavlov : 2016-05-21
   p7zip Version 16.02 (locale=en_US.UTF-8,Utf16=on,HugeFiles=on,64 bits,2 CPUs Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-9880H CPU @ 2.30GHz (906ED),ASM,AES-NI)
   
   Usage: 7z <command> [<switches>...] <archive_name> [<file_names>...]
          [<@listfiles...>]
   
   <Commands>
     a : Add files to archive
     b : Benchmark
     d : Delete files from archive
     e : Extract files from archive (without using directory names)
     h : Calculate hash values for files
     i : Show information about supported formats
     l : List contents of archive
     rn : Rename files in archive
     t : Test integrity of archive
     u : Update files to archive
     x : eXtract files with full paths
   
   <Switches>
     -- : Stop switches parsing
     -ai[r[-|0]]{@listfile|!wildcard} : Include archives
     -ax[r[-|0]]{@listfile|!wildcard} : eXclude archives
     -ao{a|s|t|u} : set Overwrite mode
     -an : disable archive_name field
     -bb[0-3] : set output log level
     -bd : disable progress indicator
     -bs{o|e|p}{0|1|2} : set output stream for output/error/progress line
     -bt : show execution time statistics
     -i[r[-|0]]{@listfile|!wildcard} : Include filenames
     -m{Parameters} : set compression Method
       -mmt[N] : set number of CPU threads
     -o{Directory} : set Output directory
     -p{Password} : set Password
     -r[-|0] : Recurse subdirectories
     -sa{a|e|s} : set Archive name mode
     -scc{UTF-8|WIN|DOS} : set charset for for console input/output
     -scs{UTF-8|UTF-16LE|UTF-16BE|WIN|DOS|{id}} : set charset for list files
     -scrc[CRC32|CRC64|SHA1|SHA256|*] : set hash function for x, e, h commands
     -sdel : delete files after compression
     -seml[.] : send archive by email
     -sfx[{name}] : Create SFX archive
     -si[{name}] : read data from stdin
     -slp : set Large Pages mode
     -slt : show technical information for l (List) command
     -snh : store hard links as links
     -snl : store symbolic links as links
     -sni : store NT security information
     -sns[-] : store NTFS alternate streams
     -so : write data to stdout
     -spd : disable wildcard matching for file names
     -spe : eliminate duplication of root folder for extract command
     -spf : use fully qualified file paths
     -ssc[-] : set sensitive case mode
     -ssw : compress shared files
     -stl : set archive timestamp from the most recently modified file
     -stm{HexMask} : set CPU thread affinity mask (hexadecimal number)
     -stx{Type} : exclude archive type
     -t{Type} : Set type of archive
     -u[-][p#][q#][r#][x#][y#][z#][!newArchiveName] : Update options
     -v{Size}[b|k|m|g] : Create volumes
     -w[{path}] : assign Work directory. Empty path means a temporary directory
     -x[r[-|0]]{@listfile|!wildcard} : eXclude filenames
     -y : assume Yes on all queries

6. View decompressed 7-zip archive.

   ~/target_directory$ ls -R archive/
   archive/:
   subfolder-00  subfolder-01
   
   archive/subfolder-00:
   filename-01  filename-02
   
   archive/subfolder-01:
   filename-01  filename-02

7. Right click the file on Nautilus or Dolphin to extract the file from the GUI.