Change the Encryption Method to “AES-256”.In the Add to Archive window change the name of the archive you wish to create.Right click on the file / folder to be encrypted.Once the software is installed, please follow these steps to encrypt a file or folder. To obtain a copy of 7-Zip, please see and select the appropriate Download link. 7-Zip is free software that creates Zip files that can be opened with WinZip or other similar programs.

That archive can be encrypted and protected with a password. When you send or transfer files that contain Personal Identifiable Information (PII) or other confidential and sensitive data, the files must be encrypted to ensure they are protected from unauthorized disclosure.ħ-Zip, like WinZip, creates a container called an archive that holds the files to be protected. Still, it’s a solid compression format.7-Zip is an open-source software used to compress or zip files secured with encryption. Pretty much every system out there has a way to open ZIP files, and using 7Z files means people actually need to install 7-Zip or another third-party app that supports them to work with the files. The main reason for this is compatibility. They also support ridiculous file sizes-theoretically up to 16 billion GB!ħ-Zip is one of the more popular compression tools out there, but most people use it to open or create ZIP files rather than using the more proprietary 7Z files. RELATED: How to Password Protect Files and Folders With EncryptionħZ files make it easy to send and download files from the internet and help free up space on your hard drive with their high compression rate used when archiving. 7Z is similar to other archived formats, such as ZIP, TAR.GZ, RAR, and ISO, but uses a higher compression ratio, along with AES-256 encryption.

7Z is the file extension used for an archived file created using 7-Zip, a free, open-source file compression tool.

7 zip encryption