Convert 7Z to ZIP
Free online converter for 7Z files. The default archive format across all platforms. Nothing to install, no watermark, and every file is deleted automatically.
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Upload a 7Z file to convert it to ZIP. Up to 3 files at once, 100 MB each.
Free · up to 3 files · 100 MB each · files deleted automatically after 1 hour.
About 7Z and ZIP
7Z .7z
The high-compression archive format, using LZMA. It routinely produces the smallest file of anything here, at the cost of time and memory.
Good for
- The best compression ratios available here
- Strong AES-256 encryption
- Solid mode compresses similar files together very effectively
Trade-offs
- Needs software installed on Windows and macOS
- Slow to compress, and memory-hungry
- Less universal than ZIP for sending to other people
application/x-7z-compressed
ZIP .zip
The archive format every operating system opens without extra software. Each file inside is compressed separately, so any one of them can be read without unpacking the rest.
Good for
- Built into Windows, macOS and Linux — nothing to install
- Random access: extract one file without expanding everything
- Supports password protection
Trade-offs
- Compresses less than 7z or tar.gz
- Per-file compression misses redundancy between files
- Its legacy encryption is weak — only AES is worth using
application/zip
7Z and ZIP side by side
| 7Z | ZIP | |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | Solid (LZMA) | Per-file (Deflate) |
| Typically used for | Maximum compression, long-term storage | Sending several files as one, universal exchange |
What changes when you convert 7Z to ZIP
The archive is rebuilt, not renamed
Your 7Z is unpacked in full and its contents are written into a new ZIP. Nothing is passed through untouched, so the compression is done again from scratch at the level you choose, and the resulting size depends on that setting rather than on how the 7Z was originally made. The folder structure inside is preserved exactly.
These two store files differently
7Z compresses with LZMA, usually the tightest of these formats, so supports random access, though at a higher cost to decompress. ZIP compresses each file separately with deflate, so any single file can be read without touching the rest. That difference is the real reason to pick one over the other: per-file compression lets a tool pull out a single entry cheaply, while compressing everything as one stream finds patterns across files and usually ends up smaller.
Why 7Z is read-only here
7z compresses tightly, but writing it well requires the reference implementation. We read it and repackage the contents into formats every operating system can open without extra software.
You choose how hard it compresses
Because the archive is built again from scratch, the compression level is yours to set rather than inherited from the 7Z. It defaults to 6 — the setting that has been the sensible middle ground for deflate for thirty years. Raising it buys a few percent for a disproportionate amount of time; lowering it is worth doing for large archives of already-compressed material such as photographs or video, where there is nothing left to squeeze.