How to Use 7-Zip to Create Self Extracting excutables

Learn to have 7-Zip automatically unzip folders

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Last Updated: January 12, 2025 Tested

7-Zip is a handy little tool that allows you to manipulate the most common types of archive files. This article explains how to use it to create a self-extracting archive, which is an archive that extracts all files to a directory upon its opening.

How to Have 7-Zip Automatically Unzip Folders

Open 7-Zip File manager (7zFM.exe).
Find the Files, and then click the big green "Add" button.
Make the archive format a .7z (under archive format of course).
Look for the create SFX archive, which should work after making the archive format .7z.

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Make the archive format a .7z (under archive format of course) and look for the create SFX archive which should work after making the archive format .7z

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How do I use a specific path automatically?

Community Answer

Using 7Zip, you can't. There are a lot of other archiving programs (such as WinRAR) that can do it, but I would recommend that you just tell people to extract it to the specified directory as it's a much simpler interface.

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Warnings

Don't open an .exe if you are not sure of its origin. In this case, it is not a problem, since you created the .exe file in the first place because you know what it will do.

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Use anti-virus software to protect your computer from malicious software, and to scan the files prior to putting them in the archive.

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