How To Extract and Unzip tar.gz Files for Linux & Windows
It allows users to create, view, and extract files in various archive formats, including its native .RAR format as well as other common formats like .ZIP, .7z, ISO, .TAR, and more. Though both .zip and .tar.gz archive and compress files, they do so in different ways. In other words, .zip is a collection of compressed files, while .tar.gz is a compressed collection of files. Where .zip files consist of many individually compressed files, .tar files are compressed as a single package, leaving its files uncompressed. In other words, .zip files are a collection of compressed files, while .tar files are a compressed collection of files.
This is because most versions of tar allow both gnu and bsd style options (simplistically, gnu requires a hyphen, bsd doesn’t). In the option box that shows up, choose how and where you want to unzip your tar.gz file. 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. Gzip compression reduces the overall file size, which makes it more efficient for distribution, backup, and storage purposes.
Extract Files to the Specific Directory
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. While there are many tools to choose from, the most popular include 7-Zip and WinZip. While slightly different, they are quite lightweight and offer a much simpler alternative to using the command line. Otherwise, keep reading to learn how to unzip .tar.gz files in Linux, macOS, and Windows.
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As we see later, different compression utilities may require different methods for extracting and unzipping files. Though we mostly focus on .tar.gz files, check out the end of the article for some quick tips on extracting .tar files in other formats. 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 how to sell reddit moons almost any file format to compress data and save space.
- While there are many tools to choose from, the most popular include 7-Zip and WinZip.
- Common compressions applied to a .tar file are Gzip, bzip2, and xz.
- The tar command also provides support for extracting only specific files or directories from a .tar.gz file.
- Uncheck the “Touch files” option on the Extract Files dialog box, then enable either the “Update existing files” option or the “Freshen existing files only” checkbox.
How to Extract/Unzip .tar.gz Files: Step-by-Step Windows and Linux Guide
But with .zip being the easier of the two to use, why use .tar in the first place? The next section shows how .tar comes with a few extra features that make it the better compression format for certain files and applications. 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. Compressing and extracting these files, however, isn’t always intuitive.
How to Extract or Unzip tar.gz Files Using Bash on Windows 10 or 11
You may also be interested in learning about the best WinZip alternatives to compress files. That means users can download and use it for free during a trial period. Also, its trial version does not have time limitations, and users can still use it even after the trial period has expired, with occasional reminders to purchase the license. These files can be used in incremental backup strategies – where only new or modified files are added to the archive. It just bundles files & directories together while preserving their file structure and metadata. This means it takes all the specified files and puts them together into one container.
How to unzip a tar.gz file
The tar command also provides support some popular ways to earn bitcoins! for extracting only specific files or directories from a .tar.gz file. Simply add a space-separated list of the files you want to extract. The extraction method is precisely the same for tar files that have compression, such as.tar.gz,.tar.bz2, and others.
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. Rather, they both accomplish the same task (file compression) in the same way. Unpack is a simple third-party Bash wrapper script that allows you to unzip almost any type of modern archive format in Linux.
The tar command is extremely powerful, and you can do things like list or search for files in a tar archive, or extract a single file. This error usually occurs when a .tar has been saved as a .gz despite having never been compressed using the gzip utility. It may sound like a silly mistake, but it’s surprisingly common in situations where users directly rename files and their extensions (such as .tar and .gz) in the process. On Windows, the easiest way to handle .tar files is to install the LGPL open source 7-Zip utility.
