Therefore, it is often used with compression tools, such as gzip (tar.gz files) or bzip2 (tar.bz2 files), to reduce the overall archive size. A .tar.gz file, also known as a tarball, is a compressed archive used in UNIX and Linux systems. This format involves multiple files bundled into a single archive and compressed using gzip compression. While every tar.gz file is a .tar archive, not every .gz is a .tar file. The .gz extension represents the gzip compression format, which can be applied to almost any file format to compress data and save space. Unlike Windows’ convenient graphical user interface (GUI) for unzipping .zip files, you’ll need to use the tar utility through the command line.
- As we’ll see in the next section, .tar comes with a few extra features that make it the better compression format for certain files and applications.
- This will further help in keeping track of all the files as it contains all in one.
- Gzip is one of the most popular and available options, especially since it comes built in to most Linux distributions and macOS.
- However, newer versions (starting from Windows 10) have it preinstalled.
- However, third-party tools like 7-Zip, WinRAR, or WinZip can help you extract these files.
- This can be achieved by using the tar command in the Command Prompt.
While slightly different, they are quite lightweight and offer a much simpler alternative to using the command line. You can just as easily unzip the resulting .tar.gz file with the decompress (-d) option. With the right tools, you can easily open and extract your .tar.gz files in Windows 11/10. By following these steps, you should be able to extract your TGZ file with ease. If you encounter any issues, make sure to check that you have installed the correct software and that the file is not corrupted or damaged. The terminal command used in Linux works here just fine if you are comfortable with terminal commands.
What Are .tar and .tar.gz Files?
You can also use a Linux distro through the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) to quickly extract these files if desired. Since Windows doesn’t natively support .tar.gz files, extracting involves third-party tools or non-native commands. The following text outlines the process of extracting a .tar.gz file in a Windows environment. Usually, tar files are more common with Ubuntu (other Linux distros) and macOS users for data archival and backups. However, Windows 10 users may also come across these files, which is a reason to have a way to extract their contents. Like many archive and compression formats, .tar.gz is an effective way to save storage space and make it easier to send large amounts of data.
Therefore, you can also access many Linux tools, including tar, to quickly extract content from tarballs. Gzip (denoted by a .gz file extension) is a compressed file format used to archive data to take up smaller space. Gzip uses the same compression algorithm as the more commonly known zip but can only be used on a single file. In short, Gzip compresses all the individual files and tar packages them in a single archive. Though both .zip and .tar.gz archive and compress files, they do so in different ways.
How to extract .tar.gz files on Windows 11
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. Since .tar.gz compresses multiple files all at once, it can take advantage of similarities between individual files to save on space. Generally speaking, a collection of files archived and compressed as a .tar.gz will be more space-efficient (i.e., smaller) than the same collection compressed as a .zip. This command will extract (-x) the file (-f) specified (in this case, filename.tar.gz) to the current directory. Note that this command also works with other common compression formats such as .tar.bz2.
Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 14 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 20 years of combined experience in technology. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me.
The size of the files is increasing day by day owing to high quality in everything related to video, audio, document, software, etc. For the same intention, users are rummaging for newer methods to save their file in a compact form. There are various compressing software available online that can shorten the size of your file.
As we’ll cover more in the next section, you can verify file names by listing contents with the tar -tf filename.tar.gz command. It is useful to note that tar doesn’t compress the files in question, only packages them. Indeed, sometimes the resulting tarball can be of greater size due to padding.
Only Extract Specific Files or Directories From .tar.gz in Linux
7-Zip makes it easy and efficient, whether you’re working with software distributions or massive data backups. By following the steps outlined how to use on balance volume above, you’ll be able to unpack any .tar.gz files that come your way. This can be achieved by using the tar command in the Command Prompt.
It also has the Windows Subsystem for Linux which lets you use Linux tools, like tar, to get the contents of tarballs quickly. Windows 11/10 has native support for tar files, which can be extracted using Command Prompt. The native Windows 10 software doesn’t support .tar.gz files. However, third-party the winklevosses have launched their gemini bitcoin exchange in the uk tools like 7-Zip, WinRAR, or WinZip can help you extract these files. For this guide, we’ll use 7-Zip, a free and open-source file archiver with a high compression ratio. The command bundles multiple files and directories into a single file archive but doesn’t compress data on its own.
How to Extract or Unzip .tar.gz Files in Linux
In this guide, you will learn how to extract or unzip .tar.gz files in Linux. This error occurs if you try to decompress a file without specifying a decompression utility, specifically -z for gzip. Note that this command will throw an error unless you specify the exact filename listed in the .tar file.
In this example, the user tried to extract the file titled “FILE” from filename.tar.gz. However, tar was unable to find FILE within .tar.gz, meaning that the user either misspelled the name or that the file simply doesn’t exist in filename.tar.gz. Another common cause of errors is case sensitivity, where Linux treats “FILE” and “file” as two separate entities. Thankfully, you don’t need to be a 1960s computer technician to use and extract .tar files – nor do modern .tar files even have anything to do with old computers. We have outlined step-by-step instructions for using both native tools and third-party applications to open or convert these files.
If the command line isn’t your thing, there are plenty of user-friendly tools available to unzip tar.gz files. Like the tar utility, gzip also allows you to zip and unzip multiple files or entire directories at a time. It’s often useful to list the contents of a .tar.gz file without having to unzip the entire archive. The tar command also provides support for extracting only specific files or directories from a .tar.gz file.
Some utilities can open TGZ files in one step, others in two. Extracting .tar.gz files on Windows 10 is not a daunting task. You don’t need extensive technical skills to get the job done.
It is assumed that you are extracting a tarball created on another system. We are skipping some arguments usually necessary to preserve permissions, which on Windows 10 are not required to access the files. Once you complete the steps, you will have all the files and folders extracted to the destination path you specified after a few moments.
Otherwise, keep reading to learn how to unzip .tar.gz files in Linux, macOS, and Windows. Compressed files are a convenient way to store and share large amounts of data. They can significantly reduce why a full-stack bi architecture matters file sizes, making them easier to transfer and store. An advantage of this method is that it can be used on any operating system, whether Windows or Mac, without worrying about native support.