Install
The app needs Windows 10 version 2004 (build 19041) or later, or Windows 11, x64 or ARM64; on x64 a
processor with SSE4.2 and POPCNT (x86-64-v2, which .NET 11 requires; every processor Windows 11
supports has them). The standalone pakko zip has been tested on Windows 10 22H2, Windows 11 and Windows Server 2022.
.NET 11's own support list names Windows 10 only in its LTSC and IoT editions; Pakko keeps
running on Windows 10 22H2 and is tested there, but a runtime problem specific to it may not be
fixed upstream.
- Microsoft Store (recommended): https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9p5mw010d8pr, or
winget install 9P5MW010D8PR --source msstore. Updates come through the Store, and the install
also gives the pakko command in any terminal.
- GitHub Releases: every version tag publishes the MSIX and a standalone
pakko command-line
zip per architecture, with a SHA256SUMS file, a component list (SBOM) and build attestations:
releases. The MSIX is signed with the
project's own development certificate, which you add to Windows' trusted certificates before
installing (scripts/README.md; a publicly trusted certificate is planned,
see docs/SIGNING.md).
- winget (command line only): the
pakko zip is submitted to the winget catalog as
PavloRybchenko.PakkoCLI (pull request) and waits for a moderator; once it is
accepted, winget install PavloRybchenko.PakkoCLI. Until then use the zip from GitHub Releases. See docs/CLI.md,
"Distribution".
What It Does
Formats
| Format | Status | Through |
|---|
| ZIP | ✅ read and create | System.IO.Compression (.NET) |
| Password-protected ZIP | ✅ read (ZipCrypto, WinZip AES) and create (AES-256 only; file names inside stay visible) | System.IO.Compression + .NET cryptography |
| tar, tar.gz, tar.bz2, tar.xz, tar.zst, tar.lzma | ✅ read and create; single .gz/.bz2/.xz files too (v1.9.0) | archiveint.dll (read), tar.exe (create) |
| 7z | ✅ read; create without a password, where tar.exe has the 7z writer | archiveint.dll (read), tar.exe (create) |
| RAR | ✅ read only — libarchive has no RAR writer | archiveint.dll |
| Encrypted 7z/RAR | ❌ recognized and refused with a clear message | — |
ISO 9660, CAB, cpio, ar (.deb), .Z, lzip | Since v1.10.0: read only, where this Windows reads each; a UDF image (most Windows install ISOs) refused with the reason | archiveint.dll |
tar.exe and archiveint.dll, the libarchive build behind it, are part of Windows, and which
formats they handle depends on the Windows build. A current Windows 11 reads all of the above;
Windows 10's build has zlib only and reads tar, tar.gz and the read-only formats except lzip.
Since v1.10.0 Pakko reads through a small helper over archiveint.dll (checked for Microsoft's
signature, as tar.exe is), so file names arrive exactly as stored; where the helper cannot run
(on ARM64 for now, or when its startup check fails) it reads with tar.exe as before. Archives
are created with tar.exe. Pakko asks the installed tar.exe and offers only what it can do
(pakko i lists it and names the reader). Reading runs inside an AppContainer sandbox with no
network access.
In Explorer
- Context menu — Open, Extract here, Extract to folder, Add to
X.zip / X.7z / X.tar,
Compress…, Test archive, Scan for threats, Hash (CRC-32, SHA-256); in the Windows 11 menu and
under "Show more options". Each command runs in a Pakko window with progress, a password prompt
and a conflict dialog; its taskbar button shows the progress too (v1.10.0).
- File types — double-clicking any archive Pakko reads opens it in the Archive Browser.
- Mark of the Web — files extracted from a downloaded archive keep its
Zone.Identifier by
default, so Office opens an extracted document in Protected View instead of running its macros,
and SmartScreen still warns before an extracted program runs (7-Zip does not do this by
default). You may leave it off for one trusted archive, unless Group Policy decides.
In the app
- Archive — one archive or one per item, ZIP, 7z or any tar format, with a compression level.
- Extract — smart folder logic, Ask / Overwrite / Rename / Skip per conflict; the dates stored
in the archive are kept.
- Archive Browser — browse an archive's folders, extract a selection or everything, preview an
image or text file without extracting by hand, climb past the archive root into the real
filesystem.
- Test — for every format: 7z, tar.bz2, tar.xz and tar.zst written with a check have their
contents verified; tar, tar.gz, tar.lzma and RAR get a structure check that says so.
- Scan for threats — the archive's contents go to the installed antivirus through Windows' AMSI,
password-protected ZIP entries included.
- Recovery data (PAR2) — standard PAR 2.0 files next to a new archive (5, 10 or 20 %); verify and
repair into a new file. par2cmdline and MultiPar read Pakko's sets, and Pakko reads theirs.
- System tray icon, 37 languages (follows the Windows language, English otherwise), a file log at
%LocalAppData%\Pakko\logs\pakko.log.
On the command line
pakko has 7-Zip-familiar commands: a, x, l, t, i, h (hashes) and r (repair from
PAR2), with switches such as -p, -ao, -sdel, -rr. It comes with the Store install, or as a
standalone zip that runs without the app. Full reference: docs/CLI.md.
This is the beginning of the README. Read the rest at the original. Read the full README ↗
