Extract archive here, autodetect subfolder

Posted by lorancou on Super User See other posts from Super User or by lorancou
Published on 2012-09-18T11:08:23Z Indexed on 2012/09/19 9:42 UTC
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I use 7-Zip under Windows 7 to extract all kind of archives. The ever-running problem is that there is not a single way to handle subfolders.

Some people create their archives like this (let's call it type A):

.
+-- subfolder
¦   +-- file 1
¦   +-- file 2
¦   +-- ...
  • "Extract Here" will extract everything to subfolder/, which is fine;
  • "Extract to <Folder>" will create an extra subfolder level, which is annoying.

And other people create them like that (let's call it type B):

.
+-- file1
+-- file 2
+-- ...
  • "Extract Here" will populate the current folder, which can bring a lot of mess if this folder already contains tons of other files, and which is very annoying;
  • "Extract to <Folder>" will create a subfolder and conveniently stuff it with the archive content, which is fine.

So this leaves two options: always choose to "Extract to <Folder>" and live with the extra subfolder for type A archives. Or open the archive before extracting it to check if this is a type A or B, and then appropriately select "Extract Here" or "Extract to <Folder>".

I usually do the latter, but I just discovered that KDE is offering a very handy Extract Archive Here, Autodetect Subfolder feature that automates that. It'll "Extract Here" if there's only one subfolder in the archive, otherwise it'll "Extract to <Folder>".

I love this idea. Is there a Windows 7 tool offering this option? Preferably integrated in the explorer context menu? Maybe it's hidden somewhere in 7-Zip and I just didn't find it?

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