Gzip is one of the most popular and available options, especially since it comes built in to most Linux distributions and macOS. On Windows, the easiest way to handle .tar files is to install the LGPL open source 7-Zip utility. Its name implies it’s a zip utility, but it also works with tar archives, and even provides commands for the cmd command-line interface. And now you can use the 7-Zip File Manager to open, view, or extract files from tar.gz and other archives.
The Dolphin file manager offers a feature to autodetect whether the files extracted from an archive are contained in a directory or if a new directory needs to be created for them. I use this option so that when I extract files from a tarbomb, they remain tidy and contained. Since .tar.gz compresses multiple files all at once, it can take advantage of similarities between individual files to save on space.
- The tar format only creates a container for files, but the files can be compressed with separate utilities.
- However, there are also many third-party tools you can install for a more user-friendly experience.
- Given this structure, the site admin could extract your incoming archive directly to the server’s root directory.
- As a result, one isn’t necessarily better than the other — it’s all a matter of application.
- Once you’ve done this successfully, you’ll notice that the icon for tar.gz files will change to a 7-Zip icon.
How to Unzip or Extract tar.gz Files on Windows
The easiest way to open a tar.gz file on Windows is to install an excellent free utility called 7-Zip, which can handle average time to mine a bitcoin tar.gz and just about any other file format. We’ve been recommending this app for years, and it’s one of the first things that we install whenever reinstalling Windows. The command extracts files to a new directory called example1, which is located in the current directory. I had a lot of fun, three years ago or so, running a bunch of tests with different compression methods, and it was very enlightening to see how various files took to compression. You’ll probably have to install the “other” tar (whatever that may be on your system) manually. This is because most versions of tar allow both gnu and bsd style options (simplistically, gnu requires a hyphen, bsd doesn’t).
This compression is lossless – that means no data is lost during the compression process, and the original files can be fully restored upon extraction. This format how to buy people is common in the Unix/Linux world and is widely used to create compressed archives. But it does not compress the data, which results in a larger file size compared to compressed formats.
Again, the above command extracts to the current working directory by default. You can use the -C option to extract to a different directory (in this case, /home/user/files). Of course, that’s not to say .tar files are some kind of “lesser” format than .zip.
Unzip Files with gunzip
If you want 7-Zip to always handle tar.gz files in the future, you’re going to want to select the “Always” button at the bottom of the dialog. Tar.gz has become the standard format used for distributing Linux and open source software since it’s easy to extract on basically any platform that isn’t Windows. If you plan to distribute and store .tar.gz files on your website, Kinsta’s managed hosting services can help make the most of your space. However, while tools like 7-Zip are free, many more “robust” solutions are only available for a price after a trial period. As a result, we recommend sticking to free (but trustworthy) tools or simply using the command line.
gzip: stdin: not in gzip format
Rather, they both accomplish the same task (file compression) in the same way. While the file manager in most distributions can work with tar.gz, there are cases where you need a more powerful tool to do the job. Xarchiver is a highly flexible graphical program that can unzip archives and portable package formats in Linux. The biggest advantage of tar.gz files is that they are more compact and easier to handle than other compressed archive formats.
Compressing archives
If you want a specific file, you can drill down into the folder, or you can simply click the “Extract” button and choose a location to put all the files. With the command prompt open, use the appropriate commands to change the current working directory (cd) to the location of the .tar.gz file you want to unzip. Alternatively, you can also specify a source and destination file path when using the tar utility. Technical details aside, all you need to remember is that .zip files are more accessible but less space-efficient, while .tar files are less accessible but more space-efficient. As a result, one isn’t necessarily better than the other — it’s all a matter of application.
The next section shows how .tar comes with a few extra features that make it the better compression format for certain files and applications. Compressing and extracting these files, however, isn’t bitcoin in india could be banned again in crackdown on cryptocurrencies always intuitive. This article provides detailed guides to unzip .tar.gz files in Linux and Windows, as well as a few helpful tips and tricks. A user-friendly way to extract files from a .tar.gz archive is via a Graphical User Interface (GUI). This is good and pretty comprehensive, Seth.One thing to point out is that, since .jpg and .png files are already compressed, you won’t get much compression with gzip.
In the option box that shows up, choose how and where you want to unzip your tar.gz file. It also integrates with the Windows Explorer context menu, which enables users to create and extract archives directly from the right-click menu. You can easily extract .tar.gz files using third-party tools like 7 zip and Winrar on the Windows system. You can notice in the above image that the archive files are extracted in the same working directory. Once you’ve downloaded and installed 7-Zip, double-click on the tar.gz file that you’re trying to open, and then select “Choose an app on your PC” from the popup dialog that shows up. Similar to the previous error, this error occurs when an archive was saved as a .tar despite not being a .tar archive.