TAR to ZIP Converter

Q: My file ends in .tar.gz, not .tar. Is this the right page?

It works, since compressed tarballs are accepted here, but [TAR.GZ to ZIP](/tar.gz-to-zip) explains the gzip layer and its quirks in detail.

A .tar file is a bundle of files glued end to end, with no compression and no index. Repack it as a ZIP and the same files open with a double-click on almost any computer or phone, usually in a smaller download.

or drop ZIP, ZIPX, RAR … files here ·

Max 95 MB per file· Up to 20 files· Deleted after 30 minutes

Output

Convert to

Compression

Files are processed on our servers and deleted after 30 minutes.

How to use this tool

1
Upload the .tar file
Drop the TAR archive, or up to 20 of them, each up to 95 MB. Compressed variants such as .tar.gz, .tgz and .tar.xz are accepted too.
2
Check the compression
This page sets Compression to Maximum, because a TAR has none of its own and text, code and logs shrink a lot. Folders and dates are kept by default.
3
Convert to ZIP
Press Convert to ZIP and download the result. Both files are deleted from the server after 30 minutes.

TAR to ZIP changes the container, not the contents: every file comes out byte for byte, now compressed and readable on any system.

TAR to ZIP: two archives from two different worlds

TAR stands for tape archive. It shipped with Version 7 Unix in 1979, when backups went to magnetic tape that could only be read from start to finish. So a TAR is a stream: a header, a file, another header, another file, padded to 512-byte blocks, with no table of contents at the end. To find the last file, a reader walks past everything before it. POSIX standardized the layout as ustar in 1988, and Linux tools still write it today.

ZIP came from the PC world. Phil Katz released it with PKZIP in 1989, compressing each file on its own and listing every file in a central directory at the end of the archive. That directory lets Windows Explorer or the iPhone Files app show the contents instantly and pull out one file without unpacking the rest.

The two collide when a developer, a server or a Linux backup hands a .tar to someone on a laptop or phone. Converting gives that person the format their system has opened natively for over twenty years.

tar arrives in Version 7 Unix: 1979
size of every tar header block: 512 B
ZIP debuts with PKZIP: 1989
tar.exe lands in Windows 10 1803: 2018

TAR

Tape archive (TAR)

TAR is a Unix archive format dating from 1979, originally designed for writing files to tape. It combines many files into one while preserving folders, permissions and timestamps, but it does not compress anything by itself. It is the standard way to bundle files on Linux and macOS and is usually compressed with gzip, bzip2 or xz. Windows 10 and later can extract TAR with built-in tools.

Compression: Lossless
Transparency: –
Animation: –
Introduced: 1979 · Unix (Bell Labs)

TAR converter

ZIP

ZIP archive

ZIP is a lossless archive format created by Phil Katz of PKWARE in 1989. It bundles many files and folders into one compressed file, and Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android can open it without extra software. ZIP is also the container behind DOCX, XLSX, EPUB, APK and JAR files. Its standard compression is fast but less efficient than 7z, and the old ZipCrypto password protection is weak.

Compression: Lossless
Transparency: –
Animation: –
Introduced: 1989 · Phil Katz (PKWARE)

ZIP converter

TAR bundles come from Linux servers, backups and source releases, so people repack them as ZIP for colleagues, clients and upload forms on Windows or phones that expect ZIP; ZIP to TAR is the deploy-side move toward Linux tools.

What you gain and lose converting TAR to ZIP

Gained in the ZIP

Double-click opening on Windows 10, macOS, iPhone and Android
Compression, often a much smaller file for text and code
Jump straight to one file without reading the whole archive
Optional AES-256 password via New password

Left behind in the TAR

Owner and group names
Execute permissions, unless the unzip tool restores them
Symbolic and hard links
Exact Unix device and special files

Opening the converted ZIP

On Windows, right-click the ZIP and choose Extract All; on a Mac, double-click it. Phones open it in the Files app. Our guide on how to unzip files on any device covers each system step by step.

If the recipient only needs a single document from the TAR, there is no reason to send the whole archive. Choose Extract files in Convert to and download just the contents, or send the ZIP through the unzip online tool later to pick out individual files.

TAR to ZIP questions

Is a .tar file already compressed?

No. TAR only records each file's name, size, owner, permissions and date in a 512-byte header and then writes the file's bytes as they are. Compression is a separate step, which is why compressed tarballs carry a second extension such as .gz or .xz.

Will the ZIP be smaller than the TAR?

Usually, because the ZIP is compressed and the TAR is not. Source code, CSV exports and log files often shrink to a fraction of their size. Photos, videos and other already-compressed files barely change, and the ZIP can even be a little larger than their total.

Do Unix file permissions survive the move from TAR to ZIP?

Not reliably. TAR stores owner, group and the execute bit for every file; ZIP has room for permission bits, but Windows ignores them and many unzip tools do not restore them. If a script must stay executable on Linux, run chmod +x after extracting, or keep the TAR for Linux recipients.

What happens to symbolic links inside the TAR?

ZIP has no portable way to store a symlink that Windows and phones will recreate. Expect a link to come out as a normal file or to be missing after extraction, so check any folder that relied on links, such as a project with a shared config.

Can Windows open a TAR without converting it?

Recent Windows 11 builds open TAR in File Explorer, a feature added with the 2023 update. Windows 10 has a tar command in Command Prompt since version 1803, but no double-click support. Older work PCs, phones and many web portals still expect ZIP.

My file ends in .tar.gz, not .tar. Is this the right page?

It works, since compressed tarballs are accepted here, but TAR.GZ to ZIP explains the gzip layer and its quirks in detail.