What are the best options to use when compressing files using 7 Zip

7-zipcompressionzip

I often have to gather log files and upload them to a central server (Owned by another company). The central server has a size limit of the file, so I am trying to create the smallest file possible that is still in the zip format.

What are the best setting to use when compressing a text file to a zip format when my only need is a small file size?

7zip Options

I've done the obvious and chosen ultra compression, and I have noticed that LZMA does a better job than deflate, but there are far too many other permutations of options for me to test them all.

Best Answer

To create the smallest standard ZIP file that 7-Zip can create, try:

7z a -mm=Deflate -mfb=258 -mpass=15 -r foo.zip C:\Path\To\Files\*

Source: How can I achieve the best, standard ZIP compression?

Otherwise if you don't care about the ZIP standard, use the following ultra settings:

7z a -t7z -m0=lzma -mx=9 -mfb=64 -md=32m -ms=on archive.7z dir1

Which are:

-t7z   7z archive

-m0=lzma
       lzma method

-mx=9  level of compression = 9 (Ultra)

-mfb=64
       number of fast bytes for LZMA = 64
-md=32m
       dictionary size = 32 megabytes

-ms=on solid archive = on
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