PeaZip 11.2.0

Version 11.2.0, released July 2026, adds a searchable function picker, smoother drag-and-drop, and an updated compression engine, and pushes the count of supported archive extensions to 243.

Why PeaZip Instead of WinRAR or WinZip

WinRAR and WinZip are the names most people learned first, but both are paid software with persistent trial nags.

PeaZip is permanently free, has no upgrade screens, no expiry timer, and no telemetry - and it reads RAR5 archives natively without ever installing WinRAR.

The same is true of 7-Zip, the other heavyweight in this category, but PeaZip differs in three ways most users care about: a modern dual-pane file manager, a graphical interface that does not feel like Windows 95, and cross-platform parity, since the same build runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

For people who only need to extract a downloaded archive and move on, either tool works.

For people who archive often, manage spanned files, or want a built-in password manager and AES-256 encrypted archive creation, PeaZip is the more complete free package.

What's New in PeaZip 11.2.0

Version 11.2.0 is a quality-of-life release aimed at people who use the app daily. The headline addition is the function picker: press F12, start typing, and PeaZip searches every supported function, then applies the one you choose to whatever files you have selected.

If you have ever hunted through menus to find "test archive" or "convert to 7Z", this turns that into a two-second search.

Alongside it, the release improves keyboard shortcuts, makes drag-and-drop smoother (dropping files now shows a clear menu with Add to archive, Extraction options, and Copy/Move choices), and adds auto-refresh to the file manager so the view updates on its own when files change.

Under the hood, the 7z and p7zip backends move to 26.02 and the Pea format engine updates to 1.32. The code compiles with Lazarus 4.x while staying buildable on Lazarus 3.x and 2.x for users on older systems.

The most interesting new format is .ZIM - the packaging used for offline Wikipedia and Project Gutenberg data dumps.

PeaZip can now list and extract these directly, which is handy if you keep an offline copy of a wiki or a large public-domain book library and want to pull individual files out without special software.

Format Support at a Glance

PeaZip now handles 243 archive extensions for reading and creates archives in 7Z, ZIP, TAR, WIM, ARC, PEA, and several others. The headline formats it opens without any extra installer:

• Compression: 7Z, ZIP, ZIPX, RAR, RAR5, GZ, BZ2, XZ, ZSTD, BR, ZPAQ
• Unix/Linux: TAR, TAR.GZ, TAR.BZ2, TAR.XZ, CPIO
• Disc images: ISO, IMG, UDF, WIM, DAA
• Legacy/specialist: ACE, ARJ, LHA, PAQ, PEA, NSIS, ZIM

That ISO support matters because mounting an ISO is not the same as inspecting it. If you want to see what's inside a Windows installer or codec pack ISO before mounting, PeaZip will list and extract individual files directly, with no virtual drive required.

If you do need a virtual drive, ImgDrive and DAEMON Tools Lite remain the most reliable free options on this site, and PowerISO covers the burn-and-edit side for users who need full disc-image authoring.

Where PeaZip Fits in a Multimedia Toolkit

For a typical free-codecs.com user, an archiver sits at the front of almost every download workflow. Codec packs ship as installers, but their offline-update bundles, source archives, and component plugins arrive as .7z or .zip files, and PeaZip extracts all of them.

The same applies to GitHub release archives for FFmpeg builds, codec source code, and standalone DirectShow filters.

When troubleshooting playback, the K-Lite Codec Pack Full and K-Lite Mega Codec Pack installers are themselves self-extracting archives, so PeaZip can open them as archives if you want to inspect what's inside before installing.

For users who land here because a video file refuses to play, the Codec Finder and Codec Troubleshooter web apps will identify the missing codec directly in your browser, with no install needed.

Security: AES-256 and a Password Manager Built In

PeaZip's encrypted archive support uses AES-256 across the 7Z, ZIP, and PEA formats, with two-factor authentication available for PEA archives that combines a passphrase with a keyfile.

The encrypted password manager stores credentials locally, with no cloud sync, no account, and no upload, and it pairs with the secure-delete feature for users who want to wipe sensitive files after archiving them.

For anyone who has been stitching together separate tools for compression, encryption, and shredding, PeaZip consolidates the workflow into one application.

System Requirements and Installation

PeaZip 11.2.0 runs on Windows 7 and later, with Windows 10 and 11 fully supported. Both 32-bit and 64-bit installers are available, alongside portable builds that need no installation - useful for USB toolkits or restricted corporate machines.

macOS and Linux builds, including GTK2, GTK3, and Qt 6 variants, are maintained from the same source tree.

Installation registers PeaZip in the Windows Explorer context menu, so right-clicking any archive offers Extract Here, Extract To, and the submenu options without opening the main application. The installer does not bundle adware, toolbars, or telemetry.

No-Install Browser Alternatives

There are situations where installing any software is not an option - a locked-down work laptop, a public library computer, a Chromebook, or someone else's machine you're borrowing for ten minutes. For those moments, browser-based archive tools fill the gap.

The Archive Extractor unpacks ZIP, RAR, 7Z, and TAR files directly in your browser, the Archive Creator compresses files into a new archive on demand, and the Archive File Viewer lets you peek inside an archive without extracting it first.

For 7Z files specifically, the dedicated 7Z File Viewer handles the format's higher compression ratios cleanly.

These are complements to PeaZip rather than replacements - the desktop app is faster, handles larger archives, and works fully offline - but they cover the cases where a desktop install simply isn't possible.

Worth Adding to a Long-Term Setup

PeaZip earns its place on a Windows system because it solves the archiving problem completely and asks for nothing in return - no payment, no account, no upgrade prompts, no advertising.

Pair it with 7-Zip for command-line scripting needs, and the two together cover every realistic archive scenario you will encounter.