TAR to ZIP
Convert TAR uploads into ZIP downloads for easier distribution.
Loading Smart Logic...
Quick Tip
Select the .tar file. If yours is a .tar.gz or .tgz, decompress the gzip layer first.
About This Tool
Why use TAR to ZIP?
Unpack a TAR archive and repack its contents as a ZIP. The TAR's own block structure is read directly in your browser to recover each file and its name, and those files are then compressed into a standard ZIP that Windows will open by double-clicking.
TAR is the Unix way of bundling files and it turns up constantly in anything that came from a Linux server: source releases, backups, Docker exports, log archives. Windows had no built-in support for it for most of its history, which is why a .tar or .tar.gz downloaded on a work laptop often has nowhere to go. TAR also only bundles — it does not compress, which is why .tar.gz exists — so the ZIP you get back is frequently smaller than the TAR you started with.
Key Benefits
Opens on Windows
ZIP is handled natively by Windows Explorer, so a Linux archive stops being something you need a tool to read.
Often smaller
TAR bundles without compressing. Repacking as ZIP applies real compression, so the result is frequently smaller than the input.
Read in your browser
The TAR structure is parsed locally, so server backups and source releases are not uploaded anywhere.
How to use TAR to ZIP
- 1
Select the .tar file. If yours is a .tar.gz or .tgz, decompress the gzip layer first.
- 2
Convert; the archive's entries are read and repacked.
- 3
Download the .zip.
- 4
Open it by double-clicking — no extra software needed.
Best use cases
Open a Linux source release on a Windows machine.
Convert a server backup into a format colleagues can open.
Repack a .tar export for a system that only accepts ZIP.
Read an archive from a Unix system without installing extra software.
TAR to ZIP FAQs
Does it handle .tar.gz or .tgz files?
Not directly — those have a gzip layer wrapped around the TAR. Decompress that first to get a plain .tar, then convert.
Why is the ZIP smaller than the TAR?
Because TAR only bundles files together without compressing them. ZIP compresses as it packs, so text, source code and documents shrink noticeably.
Are Unix file permissions preserved?
No. ZIP does not carry Unix permission bits the way TAR does. If you need permissions and ownership preserved, keep the TAR and extract it on a Unix system.
What if the archive is empty?
You are told that no files were found rather than being handed an empty ZIP. That usually means the file is gzip-compressed or is not a TAR at all.
Related Archive Tools
More free archive tools that work well alongside tar to zip.