List Command (l)

The l (list) command displays the contents of an archive with detailed information about files, compression ratios, and archive properties.

Syntax

7z l [<switches>...] <archive_name> [<file_names>...] [@listfile]

Description

The list command provides information about:

Files and directories in the archive
File sizes (uncompressed and compressed)
Compression ratios
File attributes and timestamps
Archive metadata and properties
Encryption status

Common Options

string

required

Name of the archive to list. 7-Zip auto-detects the archive type.

string

Specific files or patterns to list. If omitted, lists all files.Example: *.txt or documents/

string

Provide password for encrypted archives.Example: -pMyPassword or -p (prompts)

flag

Show technical information for each file (detailed mode).

string

Set archive type (usually auto-detected).Example: -t7z

string

Exclude files from listing by pattern.Example: -x!*.tmp

string

Include only files matching pattern.Example: -i!*.txt

flag

Recurse subdirectories (enabled by default).

string

Include archives by pattern.

string

Exclude archives by pattern.

Examples

Basic listing

7z l archive.7z

Output:

7-Zip 23.01 (x64) : Copyright (c) 1999-2023 Igor Pavlov : 2023-06-20

Scanning the drive for archives:
1 file, 23456 bytes (23 KiB)

Listing archive: archive.7z

--
Path = archive.7z
Type = 7z
Physical Size = 23456
Headers Size = 234
Method = LZMA2:24
Solid = -
Blocks = 1

   Date      Time    Attr         Size   Compressed  Name
------------------- ----- ------------ ------------  ------------------------
2024-01-15 10:30:22 ....A         1234         456  readme.txt
2024-01-15 10:30:22 ....A         5678        1234  document.pdf
2024-01-15 10:30:22 D....            0            0  folder
2024-01-15 10:30:22 ....A         9012        2345  folder/data.txt
------------------- ----- ------------ ------------  ------------------------
2024-01-15 10:30:22              15924        4035  3 files, 1 folder

List with technical details

7z l -slt archive.7z

Output:

7-Zip 23.01 (x64) : Copyright (c) 1999-2023 Igor Pavlov : 2023-06-20

Listing archive: archive.7z

--
Path = archive.7z
Type = 7z
Physical Size = 23456
Headers Size = 234
Method = LZMA2:24
Solid = -
Blocks = 1

----------
Path = readme.txt
Folder = -
Size = 1234
Packed Size = 456
Modified = 2024-01-15 10:30:22
Attributes = ....A
CRC = 12345678
Encrypted = -
Method = LZMA2:24
Block = 0

----------
Path = document.pdf
Folder = -
Size = 5678
Packed Size = 1234
Modified = 2024-01-15 10:30:22
Attributes = ....A
CRC = 87654321
Encrypted = -
Method = LZMA2:24
Block = 0

List specific files

7z l archive.7z *.txt

List files in directory

7z l archive.7z documents/

List encrypted archive

7z l -p archive.7z

Prompts for password:

Enter password (will not be echoed):

List excluding certain files

7z l archive.7z -x!*.tmp -x!*.bak

List only specific file types

7z l archive.7z -i!*.jpg -i!*.png

List multiple archives

7z l *.7z

Understanding the Output

Standard Listing Columns

Column	Description
Date	Last modification date
Time	Last modification time
Attr	File attributes (D=Directory, R=Read-only, H=Hidden, S=System, A=Archive)
Size	Uncompressed file size
Compressed	Compressed size in archive
Name	File or directory name

File Attributes

D - Directory
R - Read-only
H - Hidden
S - System
A - Archive
. - Attribute not set

Archive Properties

Type - Archive format (7z, ZIP, RAR, etc.)
Physical Size - Actual archive file size
Headers Size - Size of archive metadata
Method - Compression method used
Solid - Whether archive is solid
Blocks - Number of solid blocks

Technical Listing (-slt)

The -slt switch provides detailed information for each file:

string

Full path of the file within archive

boolean

Whether entry is a folder (+) or file (-)

number

Uncompressed size in bytes

number

Compressed size in bytes

datetime

Last modification timestamp

string

File system attributes

string

CRC32 checksum (hexadecimal)

boolean

Whether file is encrypted (+) or not (-)

string

Compression method and dictionary size

number

Solid block number

Advanced Examples

List with grep filtering

7z l archive.7z | grep ".txt$"

Count files in archive

7z l archive.7z | grep -c "^[0-9]"

List only directories

7z l -slt archive.7z | grep -B1 "^Folder = +$" | grep "^Path"

Calculate total uncompressed size

7z l archive.7z | tail -1 | awk '{print $3}'

List sorted by size (with parse)

7z l archive.7z | tail -n +13 | head -n -2 | sort -k4 -n

Working with Different Archive Types

List ZIP archive

7z l archive.zip

List TAR archive

7z l archive.tar

List TAR.GZ archive

7z l archive.tar.gz

Shows the .tar file inside, use:

7z l archive.tar.gz | grep -A999 "Listing archive"

List RAR archive

7z l archive.rar

List ISO image

7z l image.iso

List multi-volume archive

7z l archive.7z.001

List self-extracting archive

7z l archive.exe

Scripting with List Command

Check if file exists in archive

if 7z l archive.7z readme.txt | grep -q "readme.txt"; then
    echo "File exists"
fi

Extract archive metadata

# Get archive type
7z l archive.7z | grep "^Type" | awk '{print $3}'

# Get physical size
7z l archive.7z | grep "^Physical Size" | awk '{print $4}'

# Get compression method
7z l archive.7z | grep "^Method" | cut -d'=' -f2

List to file

7z l archive.7z > archive_contents.txt

Parse technical listing

7z l -slt archive.7z | awk '/^Path = / {path=$3} /^Size = / {size=$3; print path, size}'

The list command does not extract any files. It only reads the archive’s central directory/headers, making it very fast even for large archives.

Use -slt when you need to parse archive contents programmatically. The technical format is more consistent and easier to parse than the standard format.

For encrypted archives with header encryption (-mhe=on in 7z format), you must provide the password even to list contents.

Extract Command (x, e) - Extract files from archive
Test Command (t) - Test archive integrity
Add Command (a) - Create archives

​Syntax

​Description

​Common Options

​Examples

​Basic listing

​List with technical details

​List specific files

​List files in directory

​List encrypted archive

​List excluding certain files

​List only specific file types

​List multiple archives

​Understanding the Output

​Standard Listing Columns

​File Attributes

​Archive Properties

​Technical Listing (-slt)

​Advanced Examples

​List with grep filtering

​Count files in archive

​List only directories

​Calculate total uncompressed size

​List sorted by size (with parse)

​Working with Different Archive Types

​List ZIP archive

​List TAR archive

​List TAR.GZ archive

​List RAR archive

​List ISO image

​List multi-volume archive

​List self-extracting archive

​Scripting with List Command

​Check if file exists in archive

​Extract archive metadata

​List to file

​Parse technical listing

​Related Commands

Syntax

Description

Common Options

Examples

Basic listing

List with technical details

List specific files

List files in directory

List encrypted archive

List excluding certain files

List only specific file types

List multiple archives

Understanding the Output

Standard Listing Columns

File Attributes

Archive Properties

Technical Listing (-slt)

Advanced Examples

List with grep filtering

Count files in archive

List only directories

Calculate total uncompressed size

List sorted by size (with parse)

Working with Different Archive Types

List ZIP archive

List TAR archive

List TAR.GZ archive

List RAR archive

List ISO image

List multi-volume archive

List self-extracting archive

Scripting with List Command

Check if file exists in archive

Extract archive metadata

List to file

Parse technical listing

Related Commands