How to Open or Extract Gz, Tar.gz or .Tar File in Windows 11 10

WindowsDigitals is an independent tech website that features articles, how-to guides, tutorials, and news related to Windows 11 and Windows 10. And, if you’re running macOS, you can download Keka and use it to open GZ files. But there are many others and each has its own characteristics. 3] Select the file from the folder and click ‘Open’ to add the file to the online converter. 2] Once downloaded, open the 7-Zip installer to install the software to your Windows system.

Fortunately, it’s easy to extract GZ files on any platform! This wikiHow article will teach you how to extract files from compressed GZ archives on Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, and iPad. A file using .tar.gz format is how to mine bitcoins using your own computer a file that has been created using the Unix-based archival application tar and then compressed using the gzip compression. These files are often referred to as “tarballs.” While you can find them with a double extension (.tar.gz), the extension can also be shortened to .tgz or .gz.

Once installed, right-click on the .gz or .tar file you want to open and extract. Once the above steps are completed, you will have all the files and folders extracted to the specified destination. The file extension is important because this determines the type of that document. Due to this extension, your document opens with a simple double-click. Changing the file extension will not damage the contents of the file. Instead, it will change the default program with which the file is to be opened.

You will need conversion software to perform compression or extraction process. Both options will extract the contents of the GZ file, but with “Extract Here,” the contents will be placed in the same location as the GZ file. If you select “Extract files,” you can specify a different folder to place the extracted files. This guide will teach you the steps to use native tar commands on Windows 10 from Command Prompt and Ubuntu to extract the content of a .tar.gz file.

Unzip GZ File: How to Open GZ Files on Windows & Linux (CMD Guide)

That doesn’t mean you can’t open a GZ file on Windows, too. Archives are compressed files that allow you to store other types of files into smaller containers. It makes it possible to reduce the overall file size so that you can upload it online or transfer it on removable storage devices with a limited storage capacity. After installing the archiver, you will notice new options in the context menu when you right-click files. These new options are related to the file archiver you’ve installed and are the key to opening your GZ file. Once you complete the steps, you will have all the files and folders extracted to the destination path you specified after a few moments.

A file with the TGZ or GZ file extension is created using the Unix-based archival application tar and further compressed using GZIP Compression. These files are made up of a collection of files placed in a TAR archive mainly for making storage and tracking easy. To summarize, you can easily extract files from archives with the .gz file extension by turning to archiving tools that support this format. 7-Zip is an awesome choice for Windows and Linux users since it’s completely free for both personal and commercial purposes.

He has a deep liking for wild life and has written a book on Top Tiger Parks of India. Now, you will have all the files and folder extracted to the specified destination. After the option, you have to specify the path of the tarball file to extract. In the command, we start the path with /mnt/c/ since this is Linux, not Windows. You first have to install a distro using the Windows Subsystem for Linux before you can extract tarballs on Linux. Now, open the destination folder to find the extracted files.

1. 2] Now select ‘Choose Files’ to select a TGZ archive to convert to ZIP.
2. 7-Zip and WinRAR are popular choices among users for their reliability and ease of use.
3. Renaming the file with a .gz file or with another extension will not extract the files.
4. Therefore, you can also access many Linux tools, including tar, to quickly extract content from tarballs.

People compress large files to RAR and ZIP for storing and sharing them easily and quickly. Similar to these, GZ is also a compressed archive to compress files. You would have come across ZIP files often, but GZ might be rare to you.

How to extract .tar.gz files on Windows 11

You can use it to archive and compress files using any supported methods you prefer, or to open and extract any compressed file. File archivers are software tools that help in compressing and decompressing files. 7-Zip and WinRAR are popular choices among users for their reliability and ease of use. Once installed, these programs integrate with the context menu in Windows, making it easy to access their features. To unzip a GZ file on Windows, Linux or macOS, you need an archiving tool that supports the .gz file extension. Files are typically seen with software installers on Unix-based operating systems like Ubuntu and macOS for data archival and backups.

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WinRAR – supports both Tar and Gzip

If you have any addition to make to this article or any queries about this article, you can reach out to us via comment section below. Open the app and follow the on-screen prompts to set it up. Follow the below steps to open the GZ file in Windows 10, Android, and online. As long as you download them from their official websites or trusted sources, they are safe to use. On Windows 10, to use tar on Linux, you need to install the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) and a distro like Ubuntu from the Microsoft Store.

If you have received a GZ file for the first time, then it may raise a few questions such as how to open GZ file in Windows 10, in Android phones, or online. Yes, you will need a file archiver like 7-Zip or WinRAR to open and extract the contents of a GZ file on Windows 11. A GZ file is a compressed file created using the Gzip compression utility, commonly used in Unix and Linux systems. Once the extraction process is complete, a new folder or files will appear in the destination you’ve chosen. These are the contents of the GZ file, and you can now use them as needed.

Open .gz, tar.gz or .tar file using file archiver tool

Windows 11 includes native support to extract “.tar.gz” files using Command Prompt without needing third-party tools. You can even use a Linux distro through the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) to quickly extract tarballs created on another platform. Before we dive into the steps, let’s quickly understand what we’re up against. GZ files are compressed files, similar to ZIP files, created using the Gzip compression utility. They’re often used in Unix and Linux systems but can be opened in Windows 11 with the right tools. You’ll want to replace “tarfile” with the path to the tar.gz file that you’re trying to extract.

The support is expected to arrive with the release of Windows 11 23H2. Matt Jacobs has been working as an IT consultant for small businesses since receiving his Master’s degree in 2003. While he still does some consulting work, his primary focus now is on creating technology support content for SupportYourTech.com. Like any file, GZ files can be used to distribute harmful software, so always ensure you trust the source of the file before opening it.

The easiest way to open a tar.gz file on Windows is to install an excellent free utility called 7-Zip, which can handle 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. Enter or browse to the extraction destination path (the location where you want to extract the files to), then click OK to begin the extraction. You can also quickly extract a .tar or .tar.gz file in Windows 11/10 using command line in CMD without the need to install any software. Once you’ve done this successfully, you’ll notice that the icon for tar.gz files will change to a 7-Zip icon. To extract any or all files, select the files you want to extract, then click on the “Extract to” button.