How to extract tar archives

Published 2025-10-20 14:24:39 UTC

The `tar` command is commonly used to compress or extract archive files.

To extract a `.tar.gz` file:

tar -xvzf <ARCHIVE.tar.gz>

To create one:

tar -cvzf <ARCHIVE.tar.gz> <DIRECTORY>

Flags explained: `c` = create `x` = extract `v` = verbose `z` = gzip compression `f` = file name

Back