You don't need third-party software anymore. Windows 10 and 11 come with a built-in tar tool accessible via or PowerShell . Open the Start Menu , type cmd , and press Enter. Navigate to your folder (e.g., cd Downloads ). Run the following command: tar -xvzf filename.tar.gz Use code with caution. Copied to clipboard -x : Extract the files. -v : Verbose (show the progress). -z : Filter the archive through gzip. -f : Read from a file. Method 2: Using Third-Party Tools (Best for GUI)
A .tar.gz file is a compressed archive consisting of two layers:
A compression algorithm applied to that bundle to reduce its size.
An open-source favorite. Note that with 7-Zip, you often have to extract twice: first to get the .tar file, then again to get the actual folders.
This part bundles multiple files into a single file without compressing them.
🧠 Windows 11 can now create .tar.gz files natively in Terminal. 📦 tar -czvf myfiles.tar.gz documents/ 🗜️ Smaller than ZIP for code & logs.
Note: This feature is rolling out in newer builds; if you don't see it, stick to Method 1. Why do I see .tar.gz on Windows?
tar -czvf archive.tar.gz folder_name
