How to extract 7z files in Linux

A 7z file is a compressed archive that uses the 7-Zip format. To uncompress or extract 7z files on Linux systems like Ubuntu, Red Hat, or their derivatives, you can use the p7zip tool. This utility is compatible with most Linux distributions and can be easily installed using the distribution's default package manager in the terminal.

Once p7zip is installed, it integrates seamlessly with standard file managers such as GNOME's Files or KDE's Dolphin. This allows you to open and extract 7z files directly from the file manager. Additionally, you can utilize the 7z command in the terminal.

1. Open the terminal application.
2. Install p7zip if it is not already installed on your system.

   $ 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 a folder where you want to extract the contents of the 7z file (optional).

   $ mkdir target_directory

4. Navigate to the target directory where you want to extract the 7z file (optional).

   $ cd target_directory

5. Use the 7z command to extract the compressed archive.

   ~/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. Access the contents of the 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 7z file in Files or Dolphin and choose the extract option from the context menu to use the graphical user interface (GUI) for extraction.