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For whatever reason, the 64-bit Windows Installer doesn't seem to register the .7z file extension with the 7-Zip GUI (or with anything, as far as I can tell).

How do I go about doing it. A simple "open with"(7zG.exe) doesn't work, because 7-Zip apparently requires a command-line that doesn't fit the usual pattern for the shell invoking programs. I can't seem to divine what this syntax might be from the command line (/? -? --help all give 'invalid syntax' errors).

How do I set it up so that clicking on a .7z file opens the GUI?

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  • 2
    If I remember correctly, the GUI executable is called 7zFM.exe.
    – Dennis
    Mar 1, 2013 at 19:23
  • I use 64-bit installations of both Windows 7 and Windows 8 and in both cases the .7z is registered to Z-Zip in addition to WinRAR and WinZip. I simply used te current version of the installer.
    – Ramhound
    Mar 1, 2013 at 19:25
  • 2
    Given that this question has been answered, why wasn't this question marked as answered?
    – LPChip
    Jul 11, 2015 at 12:24

3 Answers 3

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You can do this from within the program itself. Simply launch the 7-Zip File Manager as Administrator (this is important), and then click on the Tools menu and select Options. Here you can set your file associations for many types, not just the .7z extension.

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  • 4
    This did it for me. I wonder why this answer was never accepted though...
    – LPChip
    Jul 11, 2015 at 12:24
  • Worked for me on Windows 10. Thanks. Dec 27, 2016 at 4:09
  • Forgive my ignorance... What file is that on the 7zip Download page?
    – jww
    Jan 31, 2017 at 12:49
  • @jww That page has links for both the 32-bit and 64-bit installers. Either of these will do. My answer assumed you had already installed 7-zip to your computer. Jan 31, 2017 at 21:03
  • 2
    7zFM.exe launches the 7-zip File Manager, the GUI for 7-Zip. 7z.exe is the command line version of 7-Zip. I don't see any reference saying what 7zG.exe is used for. I came looking for which exe file I should use to "Open files of this type", from the "Open With.." option from the windows context (right-click) menu. Thanks all for the info. All answers were useful, and upvoted. Dec 29, 2018 at 18:23
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Looks like I gave up searching too soon.

The executable you want to associate .7z files with is the 7zFM.exe, not 7zG.exe. Doing that through "Open With" works as expected.

You can also do so from within the FileManager application by going to Tools > Options and selecting the formats there (this may only work if the app is run with admin privileges, though?).

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You can also do this sort of thing from the command line using the commands ftype and assoc. The first sets up a type of file and the program used to deal with them. The second command can then be used to associate multiple extensions with the file type and hence the executable.

For example, to find out the settings on your machine for zip files:

ftype | findstr zip
assoc | findstr zip

To learn more about the commands you can do this:

help ftype
help assoc
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  • Wow. This is quite nice. I had no idea that was there.
    – kmort
    Oct 16, 2014 at 13:16
  • Nice! But where are the ddeexec entries?
    – Milind R
    Nov 21, 2014 at 6:04
  • 7z.eze is the command line version of 7-Zip, 7zFM.exe is the File Manager, (GUI) version, ie the program you usually want to run on Windows (when not using the command line). No idea what 7zG.exe is used for. Dec 29, 2018 at 18:27

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