: Download the Codecs.7z file, extract the lz4-x64.dll file, and place it into a manually created subfolder named Codecs inside your root 7-Zip installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\7-Zip\Codecs\ ). Mainline vs. Modded Feature Comparison
As of late 2024/early 2025, there is no indication that the official 7-Zip will adopt LZ4. The developer has famously stated that "7-Zip is for compression, not for speed." The focus remains on the 7z format and LZMA2.
You do not have to learn a new command-line tool; you use the same 7-Zip interface you already know. Performance Comparison: LZMA2 vs. LZ4 modded 7zip for lz4
These mods utilize 7-Zip's plugin architecture or rewrite parts of the source code to register LZ4 as an accessible compression method right alongside Zip, Tar, and 7z. Best Modded 7-Zip Releases for LZ4
| Feature | LZMA (Standard 7-Zip) | LZ4 (Modded 7-Zip) | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Compression Ratio | Very High (10/10) | Low to Medium (3/10) | | Compression Speed | 10-20 MB/s | 500-800 MB/s | | Decompression Speed | 50-100 MB/s | 1,500-3,000 MB/s | | CPU Usage | High (Multi-threaded, but heavy) | Very Low | | Use Case | Long-term storage, Distribution | Real-time backups, Gaming, Logging | : Download the Codecs
The mod allows you to swap hash algorithms (XXH32, XXH64) to match the high speed of the compression, preventing the checksum process from becoming a bottleneck. Multithreading:
: When you need to back up large datasets (like log files or database dumps) without bottlenecking your CPU or storage. The developer has famously stated that "7-Zip is
The gold standard for modded 7-Zip. It is regularly updated and supports Zstd, LZ4, and LZ5.
: The first step is to integrate the LZ4 library into 7zip. This involves incorporating the LZ4 source code into the 7zip project and configuring it to work within the 7zip framework.
LZ4 compresses data at hundreds of megabytes per second per CPU core and decompresses at multiple gigabytes per second.
Download the standalone LZ4 codec DLL for 7-Zip from trusted open-source GitHub repositories (such as ip7z codec collections).