Home : Extensions : .gz files

.gz File Extension

File Type Gnu Zipped Archive

Developer The GNU Project
Category Compressed files
File Format Binary

GZ file type

A GZ file is an archive file compressed by the standard GNU zip (gzip) compression algorithm. It contains a compressed collection of one or more files and is commonly used on Unix operating systems for file compression.

More Information

Gzip is standardly installed on most Unix operating systems and is recognized by most file decompression utilities for Mac, Windows, and Unix. Gzip compression, while similar to .ZIP files, should not be confused with ZIP compression.

NOTE: Files with the extension ".tar.gz" or ".tgz" are known as "tarballs," which are .TAR files compressed with Gzip compression. These files must first be decompressed, then expanded using a TAR utility. They are commonly found on Unix systems.

Programs that open GZ files

Windows
7-Zip
RARLAB WinRAR
ACD Systems ACDSee
Corel WinZip
PeaZip
Smith Micro StuffIt Deluxe for Windows
WinMount International WinMount
ESTsoft ALZip
Acubix PicoZip
E-merge WinAce
Smith Micro StuffIt Deluxe
Linux
PeaZip
gzip
Xarchive
Ark
Android
RARLAB RAR for Android
Macintosh
Apple Archive Utility
Smith Micro Stuffit Deluxe Mac

About GZ Files

Our goal is to explain what .gz file is used for for and how to open it.

File Gnu Zipped Archive usage cases for Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, and iOS software listed on this page have been individually researched and verified using the FilesWiki team. We strive for 100% accuracy and only publish information about file formats that we have tested and verified.