PeaZip is focused on security and supports handling multiple strong file encryption
standards for the archive formats implementing cryptography by design:
Full
encryption / decryption support
7Z
7-Zip 7Z AES-256 encryption
ARC
FreeARC
ARC AES-256, Blowfish, Serpent-256,
and Twofish-256
This format also supports recovery records to protect data
against corruption
PEA
PEA AES-256, Serpent-256,
and Twofish-256 in
EAX mode (authenticated encryption), optionally cascaded
multiple-algorithm encryption combining AES, Serpent and Twofish.
ZIP
WinZip AE, based on AES-256
ZipCrypto (for legacy
compatibility only, not recommended for protecting sensitive data in a
modern
security scenario)
ZPAQ
ZPAQ AES-256 encryption
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Read,
decryption only
ACE
WinAce ACE
Blowfish-based encryption (requires optional plugin)
RAR
RAR4
AES-128 encryption
RAR5 AES-256 algorithm in CBC mode
ZIP
PKZip's
ZIP AES encryption standard
ZIPX
WinZip AE ZIPX, based on AES-256
(while encryption method is fully supported, the archive format itself
is supported read-only so PeaZip can handle it only as opener /
extractor)
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View more information about cryptography standards implemented in
popular
archive formats: 7-Zip
7z format
specifications , WinZip AE
encryption, PKZip
AES encryption
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Hint: official PeaZip packages NEVER
ask users a password to be installed or to run: if that happens please
don't
trust that package and rely only on official packages published on
official PeaZip domain, and official mirrors.
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Extract encrypted
archives
To extract a
password
protected archive open it with PeaZip (double click if it is a
supported file extension) to read and navigate / search its content,
then
use Extract button in application's toolbar.
Otherwise, use "Extract" entries in context menu for direct extraction
of the encrypted file
without browsing / displaying the content of the encrypted archive.
If a password is needed
for
extraction (or browsing, if archive
TOC (table of content, list of names of files) is encrypted) PeaZip
will prompt a form to enter
the
password or passphrase - and
optionally a keyfile, if two
factor authentication is in use.
Browse encrypted
archives
Some archive types, like 7Z format, ARC format and RAR format, supports encrypting the
list of files and folders contained in the archive (option usually
identified as "encrypt file names"),
to protect this
information from unauthorized users, so the password will be required
even for listing / browsing the archive - without providing
correct password the archive TOC will not be decrypted and will not be
visible, disallowing archive browsing / searching.
In other cases, when the TOC of archive is not encrypted, it is
possible to browse the password protected archive,
but the password will be required to extract the encrypted data; in
PeaZip's
file / archive browser you can enter the password clicking the proper
context menu entry or clicking on the locker icon in the status bar or
pressing F9.
How to work with
archives which cannot be decrypted
Current
revisions of mainstream archive formats like (7Z, ARC, PEA,
RAR, and ZIP/ZIPX) uses strong file encryption, and it is unlikely to
be
possible to brute-force it with any kind of utility if the password is
unknown or was forgotten.
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Some archive types such as 7Z,
ARC, RAR, and ZIP, allows to use multiple
passwords in the same archive, and even to mix encrypted and unencrypted content,
because encryption is applied at level of each single file inside the
archive - each file can be theoretically encrypted with a different
password.
This means that providing a password it may be possible to extract only
the part of the archive protected by that password, and to access other
files different password may be needed.
Using test function with different passwords can help identifying which
files can be correctly decripted with the given password.
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In some cases
PeaZip may not
able to view and browse archive's content not because it is encoded but
because
it is
corrupted or was created out of standard: in all
those cases PeaZip
will always display the password dialog, to let the user in control of
choosing if entering a password
for trying to decrypt the archive, even if the file extension is
not
usually associated with archives supporting encryption, as file
extension can be
easily changed.
If you got a corrupted archive you will need to
re-download it from a trusted source or restore it from a backup copy.
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If you
have to work on different
archives with the same password you will not need to re-enter it since
it will be kept until you change it or close PeaZip. If you open
different instances of PeaZip each will start with no password and can
keep a different password. |
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Decrypt files protected
with two factor authentication (password and keyfile)
PeaZip,
unlike most other file archivers, supports optional two factor authentication,
requiring a password and a
keyfile to decrypt an encrypted archive built using that option -
simply setting a keyfile in the password dialog when creating the
archive.
If a keyfile is set for any other format than PEA (which has its own
way to use keyfile) the SHA256 hash of the keyfile, encoded in Base64
(RFC 4648), will be prepended to the password: this convention allows
to open archives built with two factor authentication with any third
parts archiver simply passing the Base64-encoded SHA256 hash of the
keyfile as the first part of the password.
How to use PeaZip
password manager to memorize passwords
PeaZip also
provides an encrypted
password manager in Tools > Password manager from main menu,
in this way a master password can be used to encrypt passwords the user
desires to keep saved.
The password manager file is unique for each user on the system using
PeaZip, so multiple users can keep multiple separated password lists.
Learn more about how to open and extract
encrypted 7Z files, extract encrypted RAR
files (no additional software required), or to extract encrypted ZIP files.
Read more on Wikipedia pages about encryption and two
factor authentication
Synopsis: Supported
encryption standards in PeaZip free encrypted files opener, extractor
software. Work with 7Z ARC RAR ZIP files. How to decrypt AES Twofish
Serpent
encryption standards. Freeware password-protected archives extraction
utility.
Topics: decryption,
open encrypted files, extract password-protected archives with PeaZip
PeaZip > FAQ
> Open, decrypt, extract encrypted 7Z RAR ZIP files
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