What is the Best File Compression Format?

To compress some files, so what format do you use? Zip, RAR, 7z or something else? We performed some benchmarks to determine which format gives you maximum compression.

Compression ratio isn’t the only factor, of course. Some of these formats are just easier to use because they’re integrated into desktop operating systems, while some require third-party software.

File Compression Benchmarks:

This is more complicated than it seems. How much compression you achieve will depend not only the on the archive type you create, but on the application you use to compress it and the settings you use. We stuck with popular applications at their default compression settings to simplify things.

Rather than messing with some of the usual file types here - like Word DOCX documents, which already use a form of Zip compression and JPG images, which also use a form of compression - we decided to compress a few installed PC games. Games incorporate graphics, music, text files, executables and various other different types of files, so they’re a good real-world dataset with various different types of files.

First, we installed Bastion and compressed its folder - about 863 MB in size of music, graphics, executable files and various different types of documents:

o Zip (Windows 8.1): 746 MB (86.4% of the original size)

o Zip (WinZip): 745 MB (86.3% of the original size)

o RAR (WinRAR): 746 MB (86.4% of the original size)

o 7z (7-Zip): 734 MB (85% of the original size)

Next, we compressed Hotline Miami, which is 654 MB of data:

o Zip (Windows 8.1): 316 MB (48.3% of the original size)

o Zip (WinZip): 314 MB (48% of the original size)

o RAR (WinRAR): 307 MB (46.9% of the original size)

o 7z (7-Zip): 301 MB (46% of the original size)

And the Best one Is…

For documents and any other uncompressed files, 7Zip is the best file compression format. We have seen 7z come on the top of file compression benchmarks time and time again. If you want to compress something to use as little space as possible, you should definitely use 7z. You can even crank up the compression settings to save even more space, although it will take longer to compress and decompress.

Overall, Zip and RAR came pretty close to each other. WinZip also didn’t beat out the integrated Windows support for creating Zip files by that much. In short, we recommend:

o For Maximum Compression: Create 7z archives with 7-Zip.

o For Ease of Use and Maximum Compatibility: Create Zip files with the feature integrated into your operating system. For example, on Windows, select some files in Windows Explorer or File Explorer, right-click them, point to Send To and select Compressed (zipped) folder.

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