How to extract tar.gz files on Windows 11

how to unzip gz file in windows

All content on this site is provided with no warranties, express or implied. Always backup of your device and files before making any changes. There are other options to choose from this context menu, but in the case at hand, none have anything to do with extraction, so we’ll ignore them. That being the case, we would like to recommend you try out WinZip, the world’s best file archiver and unzipper. Giving you all the benefits of the GZ file format with added accessibility and ease of use.

  1. Much like a ZIP file, the GZ file format is used for file compression.
  2. Note that this command also works with other common compression formats such as .tar.bz2.
  3. However, Windows 10 includes native support for tar files, and you can use Command Prompt to extract these files.

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How to extract .tar.gz files on Windows 11

You could use third-party tools like 7-Zip and PeaZip, but these are not recommended as they don’t always work to extra .tar.gz files. Instead, you should be using the native tar support available on Windows 11 or a Linux distro in WSL. 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.

You first have to install a distro using the Windows Subsystem for Linux before you can extract tarballs on Linux. Choose whether to unzip to one of the offered locations or define one with the Unzip to… option. Choose Extract Here to extract the file to your current location.

From videos to entire software packages, many files are compressed and stored using the .tar.gz format. While extracting a .tar.gz file isn’t quite as easy as unzipping a .zip, it’s still pretty straightforward. GZ files are compressed files that typically contain multiple files and/or folders. To access the files inside, you’ll need to extract https://www.crypto-trading.info/ them similar to how you’d unzip a ZIP file. This wikiHow article will teach you how to extract files from compressed GZ archives on Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, and iPad. Although tar files are usually more common on Linux distros (for example, Ubuntu) and macOS for backups and archival, you may also come across these files on Windows 11.

how to unzip gz file in windows

The following text outlines the process of extracting a .tar.gz file in a Windows environment. This error usually occurs when a .tar has been saved as a .gz despite having never been compressed using the gzip utility. Unlike Windows’ convenient graphical user interface (GUI) for unzipping https://www.bitcoin-mining.biz/ .zip files, you’ll need to use the tar utility through the command line. However, there are also many third-party tools you can install for a more user-friendly experience. Most Linux distributions and macOS include built-in tools for zipping and unzipping .tar and .tar.gz files.

Use a dedicated third-party decompression tool

As a result, one isn’t necessarily better than the other — it’s all a matter of application. You can open most .tar.gz files using the tar command built in to Linux, macOS, and Windows 10. If you’re not comfortable with the terminal or command line, third-party tools such as 7-Zip offer a more user-friendly alternative.

Therefore, you can also access many Linux tools, including tar, to quickly extract content from tarballs. 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. If you plan to distribute and store .tar.gz files on your website, Kinsta’s https://www.cryptonews.wiki/ managed hosting services can help make the most of your space. 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.

A “.tar” file is a collection of files compressed into a single file or archive. Short for “Tape ARchive,” the name “TAR” is a throwback to when files were stored on magnetic tape drives. Having a password protected GZ file is crucial if you’re storing or sharing sensitive data. Extracting .tar.gz files using WinZip is also quite straightforward. This error occurs when trying to extract specific files or directories from a .tar.gz file using tar.

You can also use –wildcards to extract all files with a certain extension or name. This is an independent site, and producing content takes a lot of hard work. Although more people are reading Pureinfotech, many use adblocker and AI. And unlike many other sites, there is no paywall blocking readers here. If everyone finds this website useful and helps to support it, the future would be much more secure.

Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler created the GZ file extension in the early 90s to improve compression in Unix. Today we’ll be going through everything you need to know on how to open, create, encrypt, use, and convert your GZ files. It’s important to note that Microsoft is building native support for TAR, GZ, 7-Zip, RAR, and many other archival formats to File Explorer. The support is expected to arrive with the release of Windows 11 23H2.

Password Protecting GZ Files

To access the Windows command line, search for “command prompt” or “cmd” in the search bar. Right-click the first result and select the “Run as administrator” option. 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. 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. Many use GZ archives to share files, and in this guide, we’ll show you how to unzip GZ file on Windows.

You will now be able to access Command Prompt with Administrator rights. With WinZip, password protecting your GZ files has never been easier. The Unzip to…option opens up another window with extra settings.

List Contents of .tar.gz File in Linux

Thankfully, unless you’re somehow missing your tar or gzip utility, most common errors are very easy to fix. If the command line isn’t your thing, there are plenty of user-friendly tools available to unzip tar.gz files. 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. A file using .tar.gz format is a file that has been created using the Unix-based archival application tar and then compressed using the gzip compression.

Extract .tar.gz, .tgz, .gz tarballs on Windows 11 using tar

However, newer versions (starting from Windows 10) have it preinstalled. Similar to the previous error, this error occurs when an archive was saved as a .tar despite not being a .tar archive. But, if you use with a GZ file it doesn’t work, I’ve been looking for a way to decompress the GZ file with CMD but still not finding a solution. If you have an error which is not present in the article, or if you know a better solution, please help us to improve this guide.

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