Unzip files (7-zip) via cmd command

Question

I try to unzip a file via CMD.

So I install winzip (and its plugin to cmd), winrar and 7-zip.

But when I try to execute a command via the CMD:

7z e myzip.zip

It gives the next error:

7z is not recognized as an internal or external command

In addition, I added the folder of 7-z to the environment variables (Properties--> advanced --> Environment Variables --> user variable --> choose path, and add C:\Program Files\7-Zip

What can be the reason?

Ninebark

I believe you are missing the 7za.exe that is used as a command-line tool ( see 7-zip.org/download.html, command line version) – Faraday

you probably mean 7z x and not e ... – Ribband

Also, try to restart your bash after environment variable setting and .exe copy-pasting if it does not work – Goss

Answer 1

Doing the following in a command prompt works for me, also adding to my User environment variables worked fine as well:

set PATH=%PATH%;C:\Program Files\7-Zip\
echo %PATH%
7z

You should see as output (or something similar - as this is on my laptop running Windows 7):

C:\Users\Phillip>set PATH=%PATH%;C:\Program Files\7-Zip\

C:\Users\Phillip>echo %PATH%
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Windows Live;C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Common;C:\Wi
ndows\system32;C:\Windows;C:\Windows\System32\Wbem;C:\Program Files\Intel\WiFi\bin\;C:\Program Files\Common Files\Intel\
WirelessCommon\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Binn\;C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\To
ols\Binn\;C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\DTS\Binn\;C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\Program Fil
es (x86)\QuickTime\QTSystem\;C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Windows Live;C:\Program Files (x86)\Notepad+
+;C:\Program Files\Intel\WiFi\bin\;C:\Program Files\Common Files\Intel\WirelessCommon\;C:\Program Files\7-Zip\

C:\Users\Phillip>7z

7-Zip [64] 9.20  Copyright (c) 1999-2010 Igor Pavlov  2010-11-18

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)
  l: List contents of archive
  t: Test integrity of archive
  u: Update files to archive
  x: eXtract files with full paths
<Switches>
  -ai[r[-|0]]{@listfile|!wildcard}: Include archives
  -ax[r[-|0]]{@listfile|!wildcard}: eXclude archives
  -bd: Disable percentage indicator
  -i[r[-|0]]{@listfile|!wildcard}: Include filenames
  -m{Parameters}: set compression Method
  -o{Directory}: set Output directory
  -p{Password}: set Password
  -r[-|0]: Recurse subdirectories
  -scs{UTF-8 | WIN | DOS}: set charset for list files
  -sfx[{name}]: Create SFX archive
  -si[{name}]: read data from stdin
  -slt: show technical information for l (List) command
  -so: write data to stdout
  -ssc[-]: set sensitive case mode
  -ssw: compress shared files
  -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

Heeley

to avoid having to do this for each session, you can use setx instead: setx PATH "%PATH%;C:\Program Files\7-Zip\". Then restart your CMD (or use the original set command to set it for the current session too) – Aquarist

@Aquarist For me, this proved for the first time "for sure" that adding to PATH generally means adding to the user path, not to the system path, as the setx is adding to the user path. It might be clear to everyone, I did not know it even after dozens of times changing the environmental variables. – Reversal

My 7zip folder includes an Uninstall.exe, it will make this visible to the path too I assume, as well as 7zFM and 7zG. I would recommend you to isolate the command line tool from those other ones. – Fulton

Answer 2

Regarding Phil Street's post:

It may actually be installed in your 32-bit program folder instead of your default x64, if you're running 64-bit OS. Check to see where 7-zip is installed, and if it is in Program Files (x86) then try using this instead:

PATH=%PATH%;C:\Program Files (x86)\7-Zip

Indrawn

Answer 3

make sure that your path is pointing to .exe file in C:\Program Files\7-Zip (may in bin directory)

Nought

No, it should point to "C:\Program Files\7-Zip" folder. System will then read all the "exe" files from there and make it available to the command line (make sure to close the current command lines and start a new ones because changes aren't available until restart of those command lines). – Yogi

Answer 4

In Windows 10 I had to run the batch file as an administrator.

Trapshooting