Open a .tar.gz online
Open, browse, preview, or extract a .tar.gz in your browser — no command line, no upload.
Drop your .tar.gz anywhere on this page
Decoded entirely in your browser — nothing is uploaded.
A .tar.gz (also .tgz) is two formats stacked: tar bundles many files into one stream with no compression, and gzip squeezes that stream. It is the de facto standard for distributing source code and Unix software, which is also why the usual way to open one is the command line — tar -xzf archive.tar.gz. ZipTool does it without the terminal: you drop the file on the page and both layers are decoded in your browser using its native gzip support, with nothing uploaded and nothing installed.
You open the page, drop the .tar.gz onto it (or paste a direct URL), and the file tree renders locally — Unix file paths preserved. Browse the contents, search by name, and preview code, images, audio, video, and PDFs without unpacking anything to disk — then extract when you are ready. The decode runs entirely in your tab. For the format background, see what is a tar.gz file.
What you can do with a tar.gz here
One archive, three workflows — pick the one that matches what you need.
- Browse and preview — look inside the tarball without writing anything to disk. Click any entry to read source code with syntax highlighting, view images, or render a PDF. Useful for auditing a package before you build it.
- Extract — get the real files out. Use extract-all to write the original files to a folder you choose (Chrome/Edge) or download them as a bundle (Firefox/Safari). See extracting a tar.gz online.
- Search — filter the file tree by name across the whole archive to find one file without unpacking it.
tar.gz, .tar, and .gz — three different things
The extensions get conflated, but they mean different things, and ZipTool handles each honestly. A `.tar.gz` is a tar bundle of many files compressed with gzip — the common case. A `.tar` is the same bundle with no compression. A `.gz` is a single file compressed with gzip, not a multi-file container at all.
If you have a plain .tar, see open a .tar online. If you have a single .gz, see open a .gz online — it decompresses to one file, not a folder. The combined .tar.gz workflow is right here.
How to open a tar.gz in your browser
No tar -xzf, no flags, no terminal. The browser does the ungzip and untar in one local step.
- Go to ZipTool and drag the
.tar.gzonto the page (or use the file picker, or paste a URL). - The file tree opens on the left, with the archive's folder structure intact. Expand folders and search to jump to any entry.
- Click a file to preview it inline, or use extract-all to write everything to a folder.
- For platform-by-platform steps including
tar, 7-Zip, and WinRAR, see how to open a tar.gz file.
Honest limits
A browser-based untar is genuinely useful, with a couple of boundaries.
- Other compressors are out of scope here. ZipTool decompresses gzip natively, so
.tar.gzworks. Archives compressed with xz (.tar.xz), bzip2 (.tar.bz2), or zstd (.tar.zst) are not handled on this page; use the command line or a desktop tool for those. - Extract-to-folder needs Chrome or Edge. Writing a real directory tree uses the File System Access API, absent in Firefox and Safari; there you download the contents as a zip instead.
- Unix permissions are not restored on extraction. tar records file permissions and timestamps; the browser extractor writes the file contents and folder structure but does not faithfully replay Unix mode bits the way
tar -xpfwould. - Large tarballs use memory. A tarball is one stream, so unpacking a very large one can be memory-heavy in a browser tab.
Frequently asked questions
How do I open a .tar.gz file online?
Open the page and drop your .tar.gz (or .tgz) onto it. ZipTool ungzips and untars the archive in your browser — no terminal, no install, no upload. The file tree appears, and you can browse, search, preview, and extract the contents. For full steps, see how to open a tar.gz file.
Can I extract a tar.gz without the command line?
Yes. ZipTool ungzips and untars a .tar.gz entirely in your browser with no install — drop the file on the page and use extract-all to write the files to a folder (Chrome/Edge) or download them as a zip (Firefox/Safari). See extracting a tar.gz online.
Do you upload my tar.gz?
No. The archive is decompressed entirely in your browser using native gzip support; your contents are never sent to a server, never stored, and never handed to a third party. Confirm it in DevTools — the Network tab shows no upload — and by disconnecting from the internet after the page loads: browsing and previewing keep working.
What is the difference between .tar.gz, .tar, and .gz?
A .tar.gz is a tar bundle of many files compressed with gzip — the usual case. A .tar is the same bundle uncompressed. A .gz is a single file compressed with gzip, not a multi-file container. ZipTool opens all three: .tar.gz and .tar as a folder tree, a lone .gz as the one file inside it.
Can it open .tar.xz, .tar.bz2, or .tar.zst?
Not on this page. ZipTool decompresses gzip streams natively (so .tar.gz works), but xz, bzip2, zstd, and LZ4 are out of scope here. Use the command line (tar -xJf, tar -xjf) or a desktop tool for those.