A .CB7 file is shorthand for "comic book, 7z-compressed", containing page images and optional metadata arranged in filename order so readers can present them like a book; CB7 exists for convenience, though support varies across devices, and converting to CBZ by extracting then re-zipping usually improves compatibility, with the archive itself opening like a standard 7z that should contain only images.

The "reading order" matters because an archive doesn’t inherently know which page comes first—your reader app simply sorts filenames—so zero-padded numbers (`001`, `002`, `010`) prevent alphabetical mistakes like putting `10` before `2`; in essence, a CB7 isn’t a secret format but just a folder of image pages compressed with 7z and labeled `.cb7` so comic apps treat it as a book, making digital comics easier to share and manage without messy loose files, while apps provide smooth paging, zooming, library organization, and support for metadata like `ComicInfo.xml`, with the archive keeping pages together, optionally password-protected, and offering modest compression savings.

Inside a .CB7 file you’ll usually find a straightforward set of numbered page images, mostly JPG/PNG/WebP files named in zero-padded order (`001.jpg`, `002.jpg`, etc.), sometimes arranged into chapter folders, plus optional extras like `cover.jpg` and metadata such as `ComicInfo.xml`, with occasional harmless clutter like `Thumbs.db`; anything unusual like `.exe` or `.bat` is a red flag, and to open the file you either load it in a comic reader that auto-sorts the pages or treat it as a 7z archive using tools like 7-Zip, Keka, or p7zip.

A quick way to ensure a .CB7 file is authentic is by opening it through 7-Zip and seeing whether it’s just a bundle of ordered images, which is what real comics use, sometimes including a `cover.jpg` or `ComicInfo.xml`; if you spot executables or script files such as `.exe`, `.bat`, `.js`, `.ps1`, or anything that isn’t image-related, consider it unsafe, and consistent page sizes also help confirm legitimacy, whereas 7-Zip errors point to corruption or an incomplete download.