EXTRACTORX

Open-source bulk archive extraction tool for Windows
Inspired by ExtractNow by Nathan Moinvaziri

Drag-and-drop batch extraction with password cycling, nested archive support,
directory monitoring, and a premium dark interface — all in a single PowerShell script.

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Features

Core Extraction

• Batch extraction — queue hundreds of archives and extract them all at once
• 29 archive formats — ZIP, 7Z, RAR, TAR, GZ, BZ2, XZ, ZSTD, ISO, CAB, ARJ, LZH, WIM, CPIO, RPM, DEB, and more
• Multi-volume archive detection — automatically groups split archives (.part1.rar, .7z.001, etc.) and only extracts the first volume
• Nested extraction — recursively extracts archives within archives up to configurable depth
• Password cycling — automatically tries a stored password list against encrypted archives (DPAPI encrypted storage)
• Deep archive detection — identifies archives by magic bytes when file extensions are missing or wrong
• Verbose real-time output — see every file as it's extracted, with color-coded log entries

Interface

• Custom dark chrome — frameless window with branded title bar, no default Windows UI
• Dark theme everywhere — custom-templated scrollbars, buttons, checkboxes, comboboxes, context menus, and child windows
• Virtualized ListView — handles 10,000+ queued items without lag
• Color-coded status rows — green (success), red (failed), blue (extracting), yellow (password required), gray (queued)
• Drag & drop — drop files or entire folders onto the window to queue archives
• Progress bar — thin accent-colored bar tracks extraction progress across the batch
• Column sorting — click any column header to sort ascending/descending
• Selection info — status bar shows count and total size of selected items
• System tray — minimizes to tray with live extraction status, context menu for quick actions
• Completion sounds — audible notification on batch success or failure

Automation

• Watch folders — monitor directories for new archives and extract automatically
• Windows Explorer context menu — right-click integration for Extract Here, Extract to Folder, Add to Queue, and Search for Archives
• External processors — route specific file extensions to custom commands after extraction
• Output path macros — template-based output paths with {ArchiveFolder}, {ArchiveName}, {Date}, {Guid}, and more
• Command-line support — pass files/folders as arguments or use -TargetPath to override output

Post-Extraction

• Post actions — do nothing, recycle, move to folder, or permanently delete source archives after success
• Duplicate folder removal — eliminates the redundant archive/archive/ nesting pattern
• Single file rename — renames lone extracted files to match the archive name
• Broken file cleanup — optionally deletes output when extraction fails

Screenshots

Coming soon — run the script to see the interface

Requirements

• Windows 10/11 with PowerShell 5.1+
• 7-Zip — auto-detected from standard install paths, or downloaded automatically if not found

No compilation, no build tools, no dependencies to install. Just run the script.

Installation

Option 1: Direct Download

Download ExtractorX.ps1 and run it:

.\ExtractorX.ps1

Option 2: Clone

git clone https://github.com/SysAdminDoc/ExtractorX.git
cd ExtractorX
.\ExtractorX.ps1

Execution Policy

If PowerShell blocks the script, run once:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned

Usage

Quick Start

1. Run ExtractorX.ps1
2. Drag archives onto the window (or click + Files / + Folder)
3. Click Extract All

Command Line

# Extract specific files
.\ExtractorX.ps1 "C:\Downloads\archive.7z" "C:\Downloads\backup.rar"

# Extract to a specific directory
.\ExtractorX.ps1 -TargetPath "D:\Extracted" "C:\Downloads\*.zip"

# Start minimized to tray
.\ExtractorX.ps1 -minimizetotray

Output Path Macros

Macro	Description
{ArchiveFolder}	Directory containing the archive
{ArchiveName}	Archive filename without extension
{ArchiveNameUnique}	Archive name with counter if duplicate
{ArchiveExtension}	Archive file extension
{ArchiveFileName}	Full archive filename with extension
{ArchiveFolderName}	Name of the parent folder
{Desktop}	User's Desktop path
{UserProfile}	User's profile directory
{Guid}	Random GUID
{Date}	Current date (yyyyMMdd)
{Time}	Current time (HHmmss)
{Env:TEMP}	System temp directory

Default: {ArchiveFolder}\{ArchiveName} — extracts next to the archive into a folder matching its name.

Context Menu Integration

Enable in Settings > Explorer to add right-click options for archives and folders in Windows Explorer. Supports grouped submenus or flat entries.

Watch Folders

Add directories in Settings > Monitor to automatically detect and extract new archives as they appear. Useful for download folders.

Password Management

Add passwords in Settings > Passwords. Passwords are encrypted with Windows DPAPI and stored locally. ExtractorX cycles through the list automatically when it encounters an encrypted archive. Import from a text file (one password per line) for bulk loading.

Settings

ExtractorX has 9 settings tabs:

Tab	Controls
General	Always on top, minimize to tray, log history, deep detection
Destination	Output path template, overwrite mode
Process	Nested extraction, post-actions, cleanup, batch completion
Explorer	Context menu entries and grouping
Drag & Drop	Auto-extract on drop, inclusion/exclusion filters
Passwords	Password list management, import, cycling behavior
Files	File exclusion masks
Monitor	Watch folder list, auto-extract toggle
Advanced	Thread priority, sounds, external processors, config management

Configuration is stored in %APPDATA%\ExtractorX\config.json.

Supported Formats

Category	Extensions
Common	.zip .7z .rar
Tar variants	.tar .gz .gzip .tgz .bz2 .bzip2 .tbz2 .tbz .xz .txz .lzma .tlz .lz .zst .zstd .z
Disk / Package	.iso .cab .wim .cpio .rpm .deb
Legacy	.arj .lzh .lha
Split volumes	.001 (auto-detects .002+ siblings)

Multi-volume archives (.part1.rar, .7z.001, .zip.001) are automatically detected — only the first volume is queued, and 7-Zip handles the rest.

Architecture

ExtractorX.ps1 (single file, ~2,500 lines)
│
├── UI Thread (STA)
│   ├── WPF Window (custom chrome, dark theme)
│   ├── Virtualized ListView (10k+ items)
│   ├── DispatcherTimer (100ms polling)
│   └── Event handlers (drag/drop, sorting, selection)
│
├── Extraction Runspace (background thread)
│   ├── 7z.exe invocation (-bb1 -bsp1 verbose flags)
│   ├── ConcurrentQueue real-time output streaming
│   ├── Password cycling (silent probe then verbose extract)
│   ├── Nested archive recursion
│   └── Post-action processing
│
├── Scan Runspace (background thread)
│   ├── Recursive directory enumeration
│   ├── Extension + magic bytes detection
│   ├── Multi-volume part filtering
│   └── Batch UI updates via synchronized queue
│
└── Watch System (FileSystemWatcher per folder)
    ├── Debounced file detection
    └── Auto-queue with optional auto-extract

Credits

• 7-Zip by Igor Pavlov — 7-zip.org (LGPL)
• ExtractNow by Nathan Moinvaziri — original inspiration for the workflow and feature set

License

MIT