COULD YOU SHow me a sample powershell script to backup a folder with subfolders using 7-zip?

Yep - this one uses the 7-Zip command-line executable to recursively back up a folder and all subfolders into a timestamped .7z archive.

# Source folder to back up
$SourceFolder = "C:\Users\Username"

# Backup destination
$BackupFolder = "D:\Backups"

# Path to 7-Zip
$SevenZip = "C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7z.exe"

# Create backup folder if it does not exist
if (-not (Test-Path $BackupFolder)) {
    New-Item -Path $BackupFolder -ItemType Directory -Force | Out-Null
}

# Create timestamp
$Timestamp = Get-Date -Format "yyyy-MM-dd-HH-mm-ss"

# Archive filename
$Archive = Join-Path $BackupFolder "UserProfile_$Timestamp.7z"

# Verify 7-Zip exists
if (-not (Test-Path $SevenZip)) {
    Write-Error "7-Zip was not found at $SevenZip"
    exit 1
}

# Verify source exists
if (-not (Test-Path $SourceFolder)) {
    Write-Error "Source folder was not found: $SourceFolder"
    exit 1
}

# Create 7-Zip archive
& $SevenZip a -t7z $Archive "$SourceFolder\*" -mx=5 -mmt=on

# Check result
if ($LASTEXITCODE -eq 0) {
    Write-Host "Backup completed successfully:"
    Write-Host $Archive
}
else {
    Write-Error "7-Zip backup failed. Exit code: $LASTEXITCODE"
    exit $LASTEXITCODE
}

The a command adds files to the archive, -t7z creates a 7z archive, "$SourceFolder\*" includes the contents of the folder recursively, -mx=5 uses moderate compression, and -mmt=on enables multithreaded compression.

For example, backing up C:\Users\John could produce:

D:\Backups\UserProfile_2026-10-04-15-52-31.7z

If the above response helps answer your question, remember to "Accept Answer" so that others in the community facing similar issues can easily find the solution. Your contribution is highly appreciated.

hth

Marcin