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Registry Keys for Open-Source Windows Apps

7-Zip

samibs/registry-keys-oss-windows

7-Zip

Version tested: 23.01
Installer type: .exe from 7-zip.org

📦 Package Managers

Manager	Install Command
winget	`winget install 7zip.7zip`
Chocolatey	`choco install 7zip`
Scoop	`scoop install 7zip`

📁 Registry Paths

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\7-Zip
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\7-Zip
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\7-Zip (shell context menu)
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\7-Zip.* (ProgID entries for each archive format)

🔑 Keys

Key Name	Type	Description
`Lang`	`REG_SZ`	Language setting (e.g., `en`)
`FM\ShowHidden`	`REG_DWORD`	Show hidden files in file manager (1=true)
`FM\SingleClick`	`REG_DWORD`	Single-click to open files
`Path`	`REG_SZ`	Installation directory

Shell context menu (`HKCR\*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\7-Zip`)

Key Name	Type	Description
`(Default)`	`REG_SZ`	CLSID of the 7-Zip shell extension (`{23170F69-40C1-278A-1000-000100020000}`)

Archive format ProgIDs (`HKCR\7-Zip.<ext>`)

ProgID Key	Description
`7-Zip.7z`	`.7z` archive handler — `(Default)` = `7-Zip 7z Archive`
`7-Zip.zip`	`.zip` archive handler
`7-Zip.rar`	`.rar` archive handler
`7-Zip.tar`	`.tar` archive handler
`7-Zip.gz`	`.gz` / `.tgz` archive handler

Each ProgID contains a shell\open\command subkey pointing to 7zFM.exe "%1".

Shell context menu (`HKCR\*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\7-Zip`)

Key Name	Type	Description
`(Default)`	`REG_SZ`	CLSID of the 7-Zip shell extension (`{23170F69-40C1-278A-1000-000100020000}`)

Archive format ProgIDs (`HKCR\7-Zip.<ext>`)

ProgID Key	Description
`7-Zip.7z`	`.7z` archive handler — `(Default)` = `7-Zip 7z Archive`
`7-Zip.zip`	`.zip` archive handler
`7-Zip.rar`	`.rar` archive handler
`7-Zip.tar`	`.tar` archive handler
`7-Zip.gz`	`.gz` / `.tgz` archive handler

Each ProgID contains a shell\open\command subkey pointing to 7zFM.exe "%1".

📝 Notes

Admin installs store Path in HKLM, user settings go to HKCU.
File context menu options are handled by shell extensions.

🗑️ Cleanup

Remove all 7-Zip registry entries (run as Administrator for HKLM keys):

Remove-Item -Path "HKCU:\Software\7-Zip"                          -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\7-Zip"                          -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\7-Zip"              -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue