A file with the extension TGZ or GZ is created using the Unix-based archiving application tar and then compressed using GZIP compression. These files are made up of a collection of files that have been placed in a TAR archive mainly for easy storage and tracking. TAR files are often compressed once created; compressed TAR files are called tarballs and sometimes use a “double” extension like “.TAR.GZ” but are generally shortened to “.TGZ” or “.GZ”.
How to extract .TAR.GZ, .TGZ or .GZ. file
.TAR.GZ, .TGZ or .GZ. files are typically seen with software installers on Unix-based operating systems like Ubuntu and macOS for data archiving and backups. But they are sometimes used for regular data archiving purposes, therefore Windows 10 users may also come across such file types and may need to extract its contents.
Extract a .TAR.GZ, .TGZ or .GZ. the file is easy. They can be extracted using third-party applications like 7-Zip and PeaZip, which are free and open source. In addition to external applications, Windows 10 includes native TAR support that can help you extract TAR files using simple command prompts. Today we discuss some of these methods:
- Use of third party software
- Use the native tar orders
Let’s see these two methods in detail.
1]Use of third party software
You can use third-party software to extract compressed files.
a]Open TGZ files with 7-Zip
7-Zip is a free open-source file archiver with a high compression rate. This software can be used on any computer, including those of a commercial organization. This utility program can help you extract compressed files and create your own compressed files in several different formats. To extract TAR files using 7-Zip, follow these steps:
1]Open the 7-Zip web page and download version 7 or Zip 32 or 64 bit depending on your system type.
Note: to check your system type, open ‘Settings ” then go to ‘System’ and click on ‘About’.
2]Once downloaded, open the 7-Zip installer to install the software on your Windows system.
3]Then open the 7-Zip application from the Search Menu.
4]Now, in the 7-Zip file browser, navigate to the folder that contains your TGZ file.
5]Now select and right click on the TGZ file, press, 7 zips, and press the Extract files to open the Extract window as shown below.
6]You will see that a new folder path is already included in the ‘Extract to ‘ text zone. But if you want, you can change this path if necessary.
7]Hurry ‘OKAY’ to extract the TGZ file.
8]Now double-click on the extracted TAR folder in the same 7-Zip window to open it.
Once you have opened the initial archive, double-click on the TAR sub-folders / files to open and view the content.
b]Convert TGZ files to ZIP format using the online TGZ converter
Windows 10 File Explorer allows users to extract ZIP files. Inherently, you can open the contents of a TGZ file by first converting it to ZIP format. Once the files are converted, users can use the ‘Extract all ‘ option to decompress the ZIP. You can convert TGZ files to ZIP format using online converters, here’s how:
1]Open the Convertio web tool in your web browser. It is an online TGZ converter (TAR.GZ) which can convert files to and from tgz on the web.
2]Select now ‘Choose files’ to select a TGZ archive to convert to ZIP.
3]Select the file in the folder and click ‘Open’ to add the file to the online converter.
4]Select the conversion type on “Zip *: French ‘
5]Now click on the ‘Convert’ button to convert the archive.
5]Click on ‘Download’ and save the new ZIP archive.
6]Go to the downloaded files folder and double-click the downloaded ZIP file to open its Extract tab. Now click on the ‘Extract all ‘ to open the window directly below.
7]Select the destination and press Extract.
Now double-click on the folder extracted from the ZIP and open its contents.
2]Using native tar commands on Windows 10
Windows 10 includes native tar support that you can use with the command prompt to extract these files. In addition to this, users can use the Windows for Linux Subsystem (WSL) which provides native support for Ubuntu, Fedora and SUSE, so you can also access many Linux tools, including tar for instantly extract the contents of tarballs. Here we discuss the steps for using native tar commands in Windows 10 using the command prompt and Ubuntu to extract the contents of a .tar.gz file.
a]Extract tarballs .tar.gz, .tgz or .gz using tar on Windows 10
To extract .tar.gz, .tgz or .gz files using tar in Windows 10, do the following:
1]Open the ‘Start ‘ menu.
2]Search ‘Command Prompt “
3]Right click on the first result and press ‘Execute as administrator“
4]Now type the command below to use tar to extract the files and press ‘Enter’:
tar -xvzf C:PATHTOFILEFILE-NAME.tar.gz -C C:PATHTOFOLDEREXTRACTION
Make sure to update the syntax to include the source and destination paths.
Once the above steps are completed, all files and folders will be extracted to the specified destination.
b]Extract tarballs .tar.gz, .tgz or .gz using tar on Linux on Windows 10
Another way to use tar on Windows 10 is to install Ubuntu on your system. Once installed on your Windows 10 system, follow the steps below:
1]Launch ”Ubuntu » of ‘Start ‘ menu
2]Now type the command below to extract the contents of the .tar.gz file:
sudo tar -xvzf /mnt/c/PATH/TO/TAR-FILE/Desktop/FILE-NAME.tar.gz -C /mnt/c/PATH/TO/DESTINATION/FOLDER
Make sure to update the syntax to include the source and destination paths.
3]Now click on the ‘Enter’ key.
Now you will have all the files and folders extracted to the specified destination.
So you can now extract .TAR.GZ, .TGZ or .GZ. on Windows 10.
Read more: How to extract a CAB file using command line tools.