TAR.GZ to ZIP Converter
A .tar.gz is two formats stacked: a tar bundle wrapped in gzip compression. Most Windows tools peel them off one at a time. This converter removes both layers and writes a single ZIP with the original folders and dates.
Archive Converter
or drop ZIP, ZIPX, RAR … files here ·
Max 95 MB per file· Up to 20 files· Deleted after 30 minutes
Files are processed on our servers and deleted after 30 minutes.
Needed only if the archive you upload is password-protected.
Optional password for the converted archive. Leave empty for none. TAR and ISO cannot hold a password.
AES-256 is secure and opens in Windows 11, macOS, 7-Zip and WinRAR. ZipCrypto is weak but opens on older built-in Windows unzip.
Keep the original folders, or move every file to the top level.
How to use this tool
- 1
Add the tarball
Upload a .tar.gz or .tgz file, up to 95 MB each and 20 per batch. .tar.bz2 and .tar.xz tarballs are accepted the same way.
- 2
Keep the folder layout
Folder layout stays on Keep folders so a project's directory tree survives. Use All files at top level only for a flat set of documents or images.
- 3
Convert to ZIP
Press Convert to ZIP and download. Add a New password under Advanced settings first if the ZIP should be encrypted.
How do I convert a tar.gz to a ZIP?
Upload the .tar.gz or .tgz and press Convert to ZIP. The gzip layer is decompressed, the tar is read, and each file is packed into a ZIP with its folder and date, ready to open on any device.
Why a tar.gz is one solid stream
Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler released gzip for the GNU Project in 1992 as a patent-free replacement for the Unix compress command. gzip compresses exactly one stream of bytes and knows nothing about files or folders. Pairing it with tar, which joins many files into one stream, gave Unix a two-step archive: tar collects, gzip shrinks.
Because gzip sees the whole tar at once, the result behaves like a solid archive. Repeated text across hundreds of files compresses well, which is why source code, Linux packages and projects such as WordPress publish tar.gz downloads. The price is access. To read the last file you decompress everything before it, and a damaged byte early on can make the rest unreadable.
ZIP does the opposite and compresses each file separately behind an index. That costs some size but makes the archive easy to browse, which is what a Windows user expects. Windows 11 has opened tar.gz in File Explorer since its 2023 update, but Windows 10, older work PCs and many upload forms still want ZIP. Plain, uncompressed tarballs have their own page, TAR to ZIP, and the archive converter covers 7z, RAR and ISO as well.
TAR.GZ to ZIP in three passes
Remove gzip
The compressed stream is inflated back into the original tar.
Read the tar
Each header gives a file's path, size and modified date.
Write the ZIP
Files are compressed one by one and listed in the ZIP's central directory.
TAR.GZ
Gzip-compressed TAR archive
A .tar.gz (or .tgz) file is a TAR archive compressed with gzip, the GNU compression tool released in 1992. It is the traditional format for source code releases, Linux software and server backups because it preserves Unix permissions and compresses well. Extracting it takes two steps in some tools, first gzip and then tar. Linux and macOS open it natively, while Windows users may need 7-Zip or a recent built-in tar.
- Compression
- Lossless
- Transparency
- –
- Animation
- –
- Introduced
- 1992 · Unix tar + GNU gzip (Jean-loup Gailly, Mark Adler)
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)
TAR.GZ is how Linux projects, server backups and source releases ship, so people turn it into ZIP when the files must open on Windows or a phone in one step instead of two; ZIP to TAR.GZ is the opposite, packing for a Linux server or build script.
Tarball types this page accepts
| from ↓ · to → | ZIP | 7Z | Extract |
|---|---|---|---|
| TAR | TAR to ZIP: yes | TAR to 7Z: yes | TAR to Extract: yes |
| TAR.GZ / TGZ | TAR.GZ / TGZ to ZIP: yes | TAR.GZ / TGZ to 7Z: yes | TAR.GZ / TGZ to Extract: yes |
| TAR.BZ2 | TAR.BZ2 to ZIP: yes | TAR.BZ2 to 7Z: yes | TAR.BZ2 to Extract: yes |
| TAR.XZ | TAR.XZ to ZIP: yes | TAR.XZ to 7Z: yes | TAR.XZ to Extract: yes |
Linux file names that trip up Windows
Check case-only names and special characters
Linux lets README and readme sit in the same folder, and allows characters such as : and ? in names. Windows treats the first pair as one file and refuses the characters, so after extracting the ZIP on Windows one of the files may be missing or renamed. Symbolic links in the tarball are not recreated either, so for code that depends on them, keep the tarball for Linux users.
TAR.GZ to ZIP questions
Why does 7-Zip turn my .tar.gz into a .tar instead of a folder?
7-Zip treats the two layers separately: the first extraction removes gzip and leaves the .tar, and a second extraction unpacks the files. Converting to ZIP here does both at once, so the recipient gets one familiar file.
Is a .tgz file different from a .tar.gz?
No. .tgz is a shortened name for the same thing, dating from systems that limited extensions to three characters. Both are a tar archive compressed with gzip, and both are accepted here.
Why is the ZIP larger than the tar.gz I started with?
gzip compresses the whole tar as one continuous stream, so it can reuse patterns across files, for example hundreds of similar source files. ZIP compresses each file on its own and starts fresh every time. The gap is largest for many small text files and smallest for photos or videos.
Why can't I preview one file inside a tar.gz without extracting everything?
Neither layer has an index. gzip can only be decompressed from the start, and tar lists its files one header at a time along the way. A ZIP keeps a directory at the end, which is why its contents appear instantly.
Should I download the ZIP or the tar.gz of a GitHub release?
GitHub offers both for every release's source code, and the contents are the same. On Windows pick the ZIP; on Linux or macOS either works. Convert only when you already have the tar.gz and the other version is unavailable.
Can I do this on a Mac without uploading anything?
Yes. Double-click the .tar.gz in Finder and Archive Utility unpacks both layers; then right-click the folder and choose Compress to make a ZIP. Use this page when you are on a Chromebook, a phone or a locked-down work PC.