Extract TAR

A .tar archive bundles several files into one - typical on Linux and macOS, often the container inside a .tar.gz. This tool reads the TAR and gives you back every contained file individually, unchanged and lossless.

Extraction runs entirely locally in your browser (a pure JavaScript reader for the USTAR format per POSIX.1-1988). Your data is never uploaded. For a .tar.gz, first decompress the .gz with the gzip tool, then open the TAR.

Such bundles often arrive when downloading source-code releases, container images or backups from a Linux server. Instead of reaching for a console first, you pull the content out conveniently here and immediately see which components are included. Every single entry appears for targeted selection, so you do not have to open the whole package just to view one contained template.

Unlike a ZIP, a plain .tar compresses nothing: it merely lines the files up in 512-byte blocks, which is why a TAR is often even slightly larger than the sum of its contents. It only shrinks through a downstream compression (.tar.gz, .tar.bz2) - the .gz wrapper you unpack beforehand with the gzip tool.

Specifications

In 3 steps

1. Drop or pick your TAR archive.
2. The tool extracts into individual files locally.
3. Download the files individually or as a ZIP.

Limitations: Reads the widely supported USTAR format; very exotic TAR variants with long paths (PAX/GNU) may not be fully supported. Gzip-decompress a .tar.gz first. Directory entries are skipped.

FAQ

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