By FreePortal Team · Reviewed by FreePortal Editorial Team · Last updated October 2026

How to Download and Install PeaZip Free Guide

The free, cross-platform archiver that opens 200+ formats — including RAR — with strong encryption and a friendlier interface than 7-Zip.

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Is PeaZip Free?

Yes. PeaZip is free and open-source software under the LGPLv3 licence. There is no paid tier, no subscription, no ads, and no trial period. It is free for personal and commercial use, and the source code is publicly available. Unlike WinRAR, there is no expiry reminder and no licence to buy — even for business use.

PeaZip is developed by Giorgio Tani and is built on open-source compression technologies from the 7-Zip / p7zip, FreeArc, PAQ / ZPAQ, Brotli, Zstandard, and PEA projects. It positions itself as a cross-platform open-source alternative to WinZip and WinRAR, with the same GUI on Windows, Linux, and macOS.

System Requirements

Windows: Windows 7 or later (32-bit and 64-bit installers available; Windows 11 supported, including the native context-menu integration). Also runs on ReactOS and under Wine.
Linux: x86-64 and x86; experimental aarch64 / ARM builds are available. Packages include DEB, RPM, Flatpak, and portable tar.gz.
macOS: Intel x86-64 and Apple Silicon (aarch64); macOS 10.15 Catalina or later. Available as a .dmg installer or portable package.
BSD: x86-64 native build.
RAM: Low. PeaZip itself uses very little memory; compression memory scales with the chosen format and dictionary size. On very large archives, 7-Zip may use less RAM than PeaZip.
Storage: Under 30 MB installed; the Windows installer is around 10–15 MB. Portable builds need only the space of the extracted folder.

How to Install PeaZip

Go to the official site. Visit peazip.github.io and click the download link for your operating system. Use the official GitHub Releases page if you prefer to verify SHA256 hashes before installing.
Download the right package. On Windows, choose the WIN64 installer on a modern PC (a 32-bit build is available for older machines). On macOS, choose the Intel or Apple Silicon .dmg. On Linux, choose DEB, RPM, Flatpak, or the portable tar.gz. A portable ZIP is available for all platforms if you do not want to install.
Run the installer. On Windows, the wizard asks for a destination folder and offers shell-integration options. Accept the defaults unless you have a reason not to — this adds PeaZip to the right-click menu. On Windows 11, you can optionally add PeaZip entries to the compact context menu.
Open it. Launch PeaZip from the Start menu (or Applications folder on macOS). You can also right-click any archive and look for the PeaZip submenu.
Alternative: install with winget. On Windows 10/11, run winget install -e --id Giorgiotani.Peazip in Windows Terminal. This installs and updates PeaZip from the command line — useful for scripted or unattended setups.

Getting Started

Extract a file. Right-click any archive (.zip, .rar, .7z) and choose PeaZip → Extract here or Extract to…. You can also open the archive directly in PeaZip and drag files out.
Compress a file. Right-click a file or folder and choose PeaZip → Add to archive. Select the output format (7Z, ZIP, TAR, etc.), compression level, and optional password.
Browse before extracting. Double-click an archive to open it in PeaZip's file manager and preview its contents — including nested archives — without extracting everything to disk.
Use the Convert function. PeaZip can convert an existing archive from one format to another (for example, ZIP to 7z) without extracting and re-compressing manually. Look for Convert in the toolbar.
Set default formats and integration (optional). In Options → Settings, choose the default archive format, configure context-menu entries, and decide whether to keep PeaZip as the default handler for specific file types.

Useful Tips

🔐 Use two-factor encryption. PeaZip supports a password plus a keyfile for formats that support encryption. This makes dictionary and brute-force attacks substantially harder — a feature 7-Zip does not offer natively.
🧂 Pick the cipher that fits the format. PeaZip can use AES, Serpent, Twofish, and Blowfish depending on the archive format — notably the PEA format supports Serpent, Twofish, and Blowfish alongside AES. AES-256 is the safest default for 7z and ZIP.
📦 7z for size, ZIP for sharing. The .7z format compresses smaller than ZIP, but ZIP is easier for recipients to open without extra software. Use ZIP when sharing, 7z for archives you control on both ends.
🧪 Test archives before sending. PeaZip includes archive testing and checksum verification. Run a test on large archives after creation to catch a bad write or a failing drive before the recipient does.
💾 Go portable for USB sticks. The portable build needs no installation — extract it to a USB drive or a cloud-synced folder and run peazip.exe directly. Settings and bookmarks travel with you.
⌨️ Export GUI tasks as scripts. The Console tab in archiving and extraction windows can export the current task as a command-line script. This is a gentle way to learn the CLI or to schedule backups without writing commands from scratch.
🧹 Secure delete sensitive files. PeaZip includes a secure-deletion tool that overwrites data before removing it — useful for sensitive archives on shared or recycled drives.
🪟 Windows 11 tip. If PeaZip does not appear in the compact right-click menu, click Show more options or press Shift+F10. Recent builds also offer a native Windows 11 context-menu option during installation.

PeaZip vs 7-Zip vs WinRAR

PeaZip: Free and open source (LGPLv3), cross-platform with the same full GUI on Windows, macOS, and Linux, including Apple Silicon and aarch64 Linux. Opens 200+ formats, extracts RAR (including RAR5) without WinRAR, offers two-factor encryption, encrypted password manager, secure delete, archive conversion, and portable builds. It can create RAR only if WinRAR is installed locally. Best for Mac and Linux users who want a graphical RAR extractor, cross-platform users, and anyone who wants more security features than 7-Zip provides.
7-Zip: Free and open source (LGPL), Windows-first with Linux and macOS CLI builds. Best raw compression ratio with its native .7z format and the lightest, fastest option for very large archives. Cannot create RAR or recovery records, and its macOS support is command-line only. Best for Windows users who want maximum compression and minimal overhead.
WinRAR: Shareware, $29 single-user licence after a 40-day trial. The only mainstream tool that creates RAR archives, attaches recovery records, and offers built-in archive repair. Windows GUI only; Linux/macOS are command-line. Best for people who exchange RAR files or need recovery records for long-term backups.

All three extract RAR files. The practical split is: PeaZip for cross-platform GUI and format breadth, 7-Zip for maximum compression on Windows, and WinRAR only when you specifically need to create RAR archives or use recovery records. For most users who receive archives rather than send RAR files, PeaZip and 7-Zip cover the same ground — PeaZip simply looks and feels more modern and runs natively on macOS.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

🪟 PeaZip is missing from the right-click menu. Open PeaZip → Options → Settings → Integration and re-enable the shell-integration entries. On Windows 11, the compact menu may hide them behind Show more options. If the integration is still absent, reinstall and keep the shell-integration checkbox ticked during setup.
❌ “Cannot open file as archive” or “File is corrupt.” This usually means the download was incomplete, the file was modified by antivirus, or the archive uses a newer algorithm than your PeaZip version supports. Re-download the file, update PeaZip to the latest release (11.3.0), and run the built-in test function before trying again. If the archive is slightly damaged, try extracting with the “keep broken files” option or test it with 7-Zip as a second opinion.
🔐 A password-protected archive won't open. PeaZip passwords are case-sensitive, and the keyboard layout at entry matters. If the archive uses an encrypted password manager entry, unlock the manager first. There is no legitimate way to bypass AES-256 — “password recovery” tools are brute-force attempts and are frequently malware.
🐌 PeaZip feels slow or freezes when opening a nested archive. PeaZip tries to browse .tar.bz2, .tar.gz, and similar nested archives by default, which can take time on large files. In Options → Settings → Performances, adjust the pre-parse behaviour, or open the outer archive first and extract the inner archive as a separate step.
📦 CAB, WIM, or ACE files won't open. ACE extraction requires the separate UNACE plugin because its licence is incompatible with LGPLv3. CAB and WIM support should be enabled in Options → Settings → Formats; if they are disabled, re-enable them. Updating to the latest PeaZip also fixes format-support issues.
📶 Winget install fails. Make sure winget is available (Windows 11 and recent Windows 10 builds include App Installer). Run the command in a normal terminal, not an elevated one unless required by policy, and check the package ID: Giorgiotani.Peazip.
🖥️ Drag and drop from PeaZip to Explorer does nothing. This is a known intermittent issue, especially when dragging multiple files or on the first drag after opening PeaZip. Workaround: use Extract from the toolbar or context menu instead of dragging, or retry the drag after closing and reopening the archive. Keeping PeaZip updated reduces the frequency of Qt-related drag-and-drop issues.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is PeaZip really free?

Yes. PeaZip is free and open-source software released under the LGPLv3 licence. It is free for personal, commercial, and government use, with no paid tier, no ads, and no trial period. The source code is available on GitHub for anyone to inspect, modify, or redistribute.

Can PeaZip create RAR files?

Not on its own. RAR compression is proprietary, so no open-source tool can create RAR archives autonomously. PeaZip can, however, use a locally installed WinRAR (Rar.exe) as a backend to create RAR archives through the PeaZip interface. RAR extraction — including RAR5 — works out of the box without WinRAR installed.

Can PeaZip open ZIP and 7z files?

Yes. PeaZip opens and extracts ZIP, 7z, RAR, TAR, GZ, BZ2, XZ, ISO, CAB, DMG, WIM, Zstandard, Brotli, and 200+ archive types and variants. It can also create 7Z, ZIP, TAR, GZ, BZ2, XZ, Brotli, Zstandard, PEA, WIM, and self-extracting archives.

Does PeaZip work on Mac?

Yes. Unlike 7-Zip and WinRAR, PeaZip ships an official macOS GUI — a native application for both Intel x86-64 and Apple Silicon (aarch64). It is available as a .dmg installer or a portable package, and the same full-featured interface is used across Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Is PeaZip safe to download?

Yes, when downloaded from the official site at peazip.github.io or the project’s GitHub Releases page. PeaZip is open source, and SHA256 hashes for each release are published in a SHA256.txt file so you can verify your download. Avoid third-party “PeaZip download” sites that bundle adware.

Is PeaZip better than 7-Zip?

It depends on what you value. PeaZip has a friendlier, more modern interface, works identically on Windows, macOS, and Linux, supports two-factor encryption (password + keyfile), and handles more formats out of the box. 7-Zip is lighter, faster to open on very large archives, and has the best raw 7z compression ratio. For cross-platform users and Mac users especially, PeaZip is often the better fit.

What is the current version of PeaZip?

The current stable release is PeaZip 11.3.0, released on 26 September 2026. It updates the 7z/p7zip backend to 26.03, improves ZPAQ support, adds a test function for PEA archives, and makes a master password mandatory for the integrated password manager.

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