Missing Explorer menu options for 7-Zip

Question

Just reinstalling 7-Zip (v.9.2) to a new system, and I cannot find the context-menu option in Explorer. In the 7-Zip options there is no plugins tab (as detailed in the documentation) to change this setting. Any idea how to get the option Explorer functionality working? I'm on Windows 7 64 bit.

score 54 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 30 '14 at 08:00

54

You are probably using the 32bit version on a 64bit OS. Uninstall it and install the 64bit version. I have done this several times and that solution works for me.

answered Jan 30 '14 at 08:00

Anonymouse

541

4

Thanks, the solution is working for me on Windows 8 Pro 64-bit running 7-zip 9.22 x64. But in addition, I was running the 7-zip x64 installer as Administrator (using Ctrl+Shift+Enter while clicking on the installer executable file.) – Aryo May 05 '14 at 07:37
2

well done! Working for me as well. – ZeroCool Nov 02 '14 at 13:45
Simply superb, you nailed it..:) – Sreedhar GS Apr 12 '19 at 02:53
Couldn't get the free 64 bit version on Microsoft Store, but got it from www.7-zip.org – Yster Nov 24 '20 at 00:34

Rik · Accepted Answer · 2013-09-12T14:01:46.020

52

First you need to start 7-zip "as administrator" the first time you run it to assign the context-menu option. Otherwise 7-zip does not have the right to change anything. (I don't know why 7-zip does not do this during install when it already has admin-rights but i always need to do this after installing 7-zip)

Then go to Extra / Options. In the first tab (System) you can choose what files you want 7-zip to associate with and in the second tab (7-zip) you can choose the context-menu option (first checkbox).

edited Sep 12 '13 at 14:01

answered Sep 12 '13 at 13:53

Rik

13,309

7

Thanks Rik but this doesn't work for me. I've ticked all the file associations and they are now remembered after reopening the application. The integrate 7-Zip.. and cascaded context menu options are ticked. But still no 7-Zip options appear in Explorer. – geotheory Sep 12 '13 at 15:08
8

Are you using the 64-bit variant of 7-zip? – Rik Sep 12 '13 at 15:12
1

I was, but I must've loaded it on top of a 32 bit version (which I thought was 64 bit!) when I tried reinstalling earlier. I just checked registry and there were 2 versions running - hence conflict. Have reinstalled 64 bit and now works ok. Thanks for the pointer. – geotheory Sep 12 '13 at 15:17
Try rebooting. If that's not possible, kill explorer.exe in Task Manager. Restart the process by typing explorer.exe via the run box (File > New Task (Run...)). – happy_soil Sep 12 '13 at 15:21
5

Got it- I was installing 32 bit on a 64-bit machine. No reboot needed. – Daniel Williams May 09 '14 at 03:36

score 15 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 25 '14 at 09:47

If you're using the correct bitness of 7zip and have the correct settings set but it still doesn't work, then it may be that the wrong Explorer shell extension is enabled.

It turns out that even with 64bit 7zip installed you can end up with 32bit shell extension enabled, possibly a hangover from previous 32-bit install.

To fix this:

Download and unzip ShellExView (x64 version) from the NirSoft website
Run it and make sure Options->Show 32-bit Shell Extensions is ticked
Sort by Description column and look for 7-Zip Shell Extension
If you find 7-zip Context Menu extension and the Filename column shows 7-zip32.dll and it is enabled, then you should right-click and Disable selected items
Then untick Options->Show 32-bit Shell Extensions and find the 7-zip Context Menu extension again (filename should be 7-zip.dll) and enable it, this is the 64-bit one.
Then close all explorer windows, click Options->Restart Explorer and then open a new folder window and right click on a zip file
Assuming the 7-zip settings and associations are set up, the context menu should now show!

This was the only thing that worked for me. Even using the 64-bit version of 7-zip, and running the installer as admin, and running 7zip as admin & changing the settings, it still didn't work until I did this.

In my case, 7-zip.dll was missing (7-zip32.dll was present though), found that using ShellExView, re-installed and it is fine now... — Gert van den Berg, Oct 03 '16 at 14:53

score 7 · Answer 4 · answered Sep 27 '14 at 19:12

7

I ran into the same issue with missing 7=Zip context menus on a 64-bit system. Had first installed 32-bit and later 64-bit and kept trying to enable the context menus and they did not appear.

I resolved this from Windows Programs and Features by: 1) uninstalling the 32-bit version 2) selecting Repair on the 64-bit version

answered Sep 27 '14 at 19:12

Jay Elbee

71

Confirmed. This works. – Aloha Mar 28 '16 at 11:21

score 2 · Answer 5 · edited Nov 10 '14 at 16:15

2

I had the same issue.

The 7z920.exe file contains the x86 and x64 installers -> I couldn't make it work.

I downloaded the 7z920.msi file which contains only the x64 installer and worked like a charm.

edited Nov 10 '14 at 16:15

Dave M

13,200

answered Nov 10 '14 at 15:16

Techky

129

score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Dec 21 '16 at 07:18

1

I had the same issue with chocolatey's 7zip package. The solution was pretty simple:

choco uninstall 7zip
choco install 7zip

Then, the menu was back in place. Since the installation by chocolatey is non-interactive, it took approx. one minute.

answered Dec 21 '16 at 07:18

koppor

636

score 1 · Answer 7 · answered Jan 28 '20 at 19:44

1

If you're having this issue in a OneDrive folder, the files you're trying to zip must be stored locally (have the green checkmark), not in "the cloud" (the cloud icon).

That was my issue anyway

answered Jan 28 '20 at 19:44

Sentenial

11

score 1 · Answer 8 · answered May 26 '21 at 03:13

Here is how it worked for me:

STEP 1: Search "7-Zip File manage" and run it as administrator (right click and you'll see the option)

STEP 2: Click on "Tools > Options > System"

STEP 3: press CTRL + A to select all the type and hit "+" button and click "apply"

If it don't work then you are probably using the 32bit version on a 64bit OS. Uninstall it and install the 64bit version and repeat above process.

Link: https://www.7-zip.org/download.html

Hope it helped :)

score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Sep 20 '16 at 15:17

0

Try a new version to install. I use this one and it works for me. http://www.7-zip.org/a/7z1602-extra.7z

answered Sep 20 '16 at 15:17

levolutionniste

111
2

score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Jan 20 '17 at 19:19

In my case I have missed 7-zip context menu only on folders (Windows 10 64-bit). To fix it you have to just enable these settings (run 7-zip as user, not admin):

Also there are some workarounds for Windows 10 64-bit at #1530 No contextmenu in Windows 10

score 0 · Answer 11 · answered Oct 19 '15 at 01:58

0

I received error "7-zip cannot load 7-zip.dll" when tried Rik's method.

My solution was to uninstall and then reinstall.

My laptop was running Windows 7 SP1 32bit so my 7-zip installer is 7.20 32 bit version.

answered Oct 19 '15 at 01:58

satoc

103

score -3 · Answer 12 · answered Jun 23 '19 at 22:37

-3

I fixed this by installing 7zip x64 instead of x32.

answered Jun 23 '19 at 22:37

stardust4891

105

2

this was already answered by Jay Elbee above. The reason is because 64-bit processes can't load 32-bit DLLs – phuclv Jun 24 '19 at 01:41

Missing Explorer menu options for 7-Zip

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