How to use .tar files

The .tar file extension identifies archive files created with the tar program. The files often have additional extensions such as tar.gz or tar.Z. To open these types of files, you can use most standard zip programs.

If you come across a file with the .tar file extension, you’ll know immediately that it is an archive file. The .tar file extension refers to the term tape archiver. A .tar file is a container which can store files, folders and other objects in an archive. Since the Unix program doesn’t compromise anything, the packing and unpacking times are short. In colloquial speech, .tar files are also known as tarballs. They are often used together with compression programs such as gzip or Izma, which is why this file format sometimes has additional endings such as tar.gz or tar.Z.

Most modern operating systems support .tar files. With Windows 10, Windows made it possible for users to process tar files without having to install any additional software. A tool to process .tar files is also included in the standard installation of Ubuntu. The big advantage of this file type, when compared to other similar archive formats, is that user permissions can also be included when packing data. If the source and destination support Unix file permissions, these can also be used when unpacking the data. Although the program itself doesn’t use any compression technology, this can be done by combining it with a compression program. The data is written sequentially in an archive and requires much less space after being compressed.

If you want to open a .tar file, you can do so by doing the following:

You don’t need any additional software to open a .tar file on a Mac. Simply double click on the .tar file you want to open, and the operating system’s archiving program will open it for you.

The same applies to Linux. You don’t need any additional software to open a .tar file. However, the unpacking is done via the terminal. To do this, open the terminal, then use the cd command to go to the folder containing the .tar file. Once there, enter the following command: “tar -xvzf FILE NAME.tar”.

On Windows, you’ll have to go about opening a .tar file differently. Although you need to use external software, you can open a .tar file as you would open a .zip file or open a 7z file. To do so, download and install WinRAR, WinZip or a WinZip alternative. Most suitable programs are completely free or offer a free trial version. Once you’ve installed the software, you can double click on the .tar file and the data will automatically be unpacked. If that doesn’t work, right click on the file and choose the program from the “Open with” option and then select “Choose another app”.

There are numerous programs you can use to open a .tar file. Here are some options:

• 7-Zip
• Advanced Archive Repair
• Advanced TAR Repair
• ALZip
• CD Systems
• GNU Tar
• iArchiver
• IZArc
• Keka
• PeaZip
• sArchiver
• tar
• The Unarchiver
• WinAce
• WinRAR
• WinZip
• Xarchiver
• Zipeg
• ZipZag