Source code releases, server backups and Linux downloads usually arrive as .tar.gz. On Windows that means two layers to peel off, and many people have no tool for either. ConvertCove unwraps the gzip and the TAR in one step and gives you a single ZIP that Windows Explorer opens, with every folder in place.
How to convert TAR.GZ to ZIP
- Click Select TAR.GZ files or drag them onto the box above. You can add as many as you like.
- Check that the target says ZIP. Click the slider icon next to a file to change its options.
- Press Convert. Each file shows its own progress, and the work happens on your device.
- Download files one by one, or use Download all (ZIP). Press Convert more to start a new batch.
If you only need a few files, choose “Extracted files” as the target and download just those. For .tar.xz or .tar.bz2 archives, use a desktop tool for now.
TAR.GZ vs ZIP
What is TAR.GZ?
A .tar.gz (or .tgz) is a TAR archive, which bundles files with their paths and permissions, compressed as one gzip stream. It is the standard packaging on Linux and macOS, and what GitHub offers next to the ZIP for every release. More about the TAR.GZ format.
What is ZIP?
ZIP stores and compresses each file separately and is opened natively by Windows, macOS, phones and email clients, so it is the easiest format to hand to anyone. More about the ZIP format.
| TAR.GZ | ZIP | |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gzipped TAR archive | ZIP archive |
| Extensions | .tgz, .tar.gz | .zip |
| MIME type | application/gzip | application/zip |
When to convert TAR.GZ to ZIP
- You downloaded a .tar.gz release or dataset on a Windows PC.
- A colleague on Windows needs files you exported from a Linux server.
- An upload form accepts ZIP but not TAR.GZ.
- You want to look inside a backup without opening a terminal.
Quality and settings
The conversion is lossless: file contents and folder paths are copied exactly. Unix permissions, owners and symbolic links have no equivalent in a basic ZIP and are dropped, which only matters if you plan to run the files on Linux again. ZIP and gzip both use DEFLATE, so the ZIP ends up close to the original size, slightly larger for archives with thousands of small files.