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. 6] You will see a new folder path is already included in the ‘Extract to’ text box.
Alternatively, select Extract files to pick where to extract the files. But with .zip being the easier of the two to use, why use .tar in the first place? 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. Thankfully, you don’t https://www.cryptonews.wiki/ 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. 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.
Again, the above commands will extract 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). 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. Once you complete the steps, you will have all the files and folders extracted to the destination path you specified after a few moments.
These files are made up of a collection of files placed in a TAR archive mainly for making storage and tracking easy. The command bundles multiple files and directories into a single file archive but doesn’t compress data on its own. 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.
How to quickly extract .tar.gz files on Windows 10
While extracting a .tar.gz file isn’t quite as easy as unzipping a .zip, it’s still pretty straightforward. Usually, tar files are more common with Ubuntu (other Linux distros) https://www.cryptominer.services/ 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.
- Mauro has over 14 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux.
- Note that this command will throw an error unless you specify the exact filename listed in the .tar file.
- Here the source path is the .tar.gz file path and the destination path is where you want the tar file to be extracted.
- Rather, they both accomplish the same task (file compression) in the same way.
TGZ or GZ files are made by compressing many files together on a Unix-based system. They have two different extensions like “.TAR.GZ” but can be shortened to “.TGZ” or “.GZ”. Alternatively, select one of the offered locations or set one up by clicking the Extract files… option. This error occurs if you try to decompress a file without specifying a decompression utility, specifically -z for gzip. In this example, the user tried to extract the file titled “FILE” from filename.tar.gz.
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For a more GUI-friendly approach to extracting .tar.gz files, use 7-Zip. You can easily extract .tar.gz files using third-party tools like 7 zip and Winrar on the Windows system. This format is common in the Unix/Linux world and is widely used to create compressed archives.
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. Compressed files are a convenient way to store and share large amounts of data. They can significantly reduce file sizes, making them easier to transfer and store. Ankit Gupta is a writer by profession and has more than 7 years of global writing experience on technology and other areas. He follows technological developments and likes to write about Windows & IT security.
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. To access the Windows command line, search for “command prompt” or “cmd” in the search bar.
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.
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Open TAR files in Windows using native tar commands
You can even use a Linux distro through the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) to quickly extract tarballs created on another platform. 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.
Using the Command Line (cmd)
You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. 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. This compression is lossless – that means no data is lost during the compression process, and the original files can be fully restored upon extraction. TAR stands for tarball which contains several files enclosed in a single file.
If the problem persists, try using a different extraction location or checking your disk space to make sure you have enough storage. As soon as you execute the command, tar will unzip https://www.coinbreakingnews.info/ and extract the file. Some third-party tools also offer extended flexibility for converting between file types, saving more time if you want to change between compression formats.
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. To unzip the .tar.gz files, you’ll need to use specific commands and tools depending on your operating system. Let’s explore the extraction process for both Linux & Windows platforms. If you encounter errors while extracting .tar.gz files in Windows, make sure that you are using the correct software to extract the file. If you are using the correct software, try downloading the file again in case it is corrupted.