Fix 7-Zip Cannot open file as archive error on Windows 11/10 (2023 updated)
131Here's how to Fix 7-Zip Cannot open file as archive error on Windows 11/10.
i. Here are some ways to fix the “7-Zip Cannot open file as archive” error on Windows:
Check the file extension. Make sure that the file you are trying to open is actually a 7-Zip archive. 7-Zip can only open files with the following extensions:
.7z.
.arj.
.bz2.
.cab.
.cpio.
.gz.
.iso.
.jar.
.lha.
.lzh.
.lzma.
.tar.
.txz.
.wim.
.xz.
.z.
Check the file size. 7-Zip cannot open files that are larger than 4GB in size. If the file you are trying to open is larger than 4GB, you will need to use a different archive manager.
Check the file permissions. You may not have permission to open the file. If you are not the owner of the file, you will need to ask the owner to give you permission to open it.
Repair the file. If the file is corrupted, you may be able to repair it using the 7-Zip Repair tool. To do this, open the 7-Zip File Manager and right-click on the file you want to repair. Then, select "Repair archive" from the menu.
Reinstall 7-Zip. If none of the above solutions work, you may need to reinstall 7-Zip. To do this, go to the 7-Zip website and download the latest version of the program. Then, run the installer to install 7-Zip on your computer.
ii. The best options for opening a large file as an archive depend on the type of archive it is and the software you have available.
If the archive is a ZIP file, you can use most archivers to open it. However, if the archive is a RAR file, you will need to use a RAR archiver such as WinRAR or 7-Zip.
If the archive is very large, you may want to use a program that can split the archive into smaller files. This will make it easier to download and open the archive.
Here are some programs that you can use to open large files as archives:
7-Zip: A free and open-source archive manager that can open a wide variety of archive formats, including ZIP, RAR, TAR, and GZIP.
WinRAR: A commercial archive manager that can open a wide variety of archive formats, including ZIP, RAR, TAR, and 7-Zip.
WinZip: A commercial archive manager that can open a wide variety of archive formats, including ZIP, RAR, TAR, and GZIP.
PeaZip: A free and open-source archive manager that can open a wide variety of archive formats, including ZIP, RAR, TAR, and GZIP.
IZarc: A free and open-source archive manager that can open a wide variety of archive formats, including ZIP, RAR, TAR, and GZIP.
Once you have opened the archive, you can extract the files to a directory on your computer.
Here are some tips for extracting files from an archive:
Make sure that you have enough space on your computer to extract the files.
Choose a directory where you want to extract the files.
If the archive contains multiple files, you can choose to extract all of the files or only specific files.
If the archive is password-protected, you will need to enter the password to extract the files.
iii. To open a file as an archive with 7-Zip, you must have the following permissions:
Read permission on the file.
Write permission on the directory where you want to extract the files.
Execute permission on the 7-Zip program.
If you do not have the necessary permissions, you will receive an error message when you try to open the file.
To fix this problem, you can try the following:
Ask the owner of the file to give you permission to read it.
Change the permissions on the file so that you have read permission.
Change the permissions on the directory where you want to extract the files so that you have write permission.
Run 7-Zip as an administrator.