7-zip LZMA file compression

7-zip is a popular LZMA cross-platform compression algorithm. Install 7zip by package manager. For example, on Windows:

winget install 7zip.7zip

Examples:

• Compress: 7z a big.7z big.dat
• Extract: 7z e big.7z

-mmt=on

enable multithreading (far faster compression)

-m0=lzma2

enable LZMA2 compression (more advanced)

-mx=3

like “fast” compression.

Example 7-zip for very large files (100s of gigabytes or terabyte-size files)

7z a -t7z -mx=3 -mmt=on -m0=lzma2  mycomp.7z *.txt

Higher compression settings might not add a lot of compression but can take vastly longer. LZIP advantages vs. 7-zip.