ZIP to TAR

TAR does not compress the files

A plain TAR bundles files in sequence. Converting a compressed ZIP to TAR will often produce a larger archive. Choose TAR.GZ if the receiving system wants a compressed tarball.

Renaming the extension will not work

A ZIP has per-file headers and a central directory. A TAR has 512-byte headers and padding. Conversion reads the file data and writes new archive structures; changing .zip to .tar only changes the label.

What happens to ZIP passwords and metadata

Supply the current password if the ZIP is encrypted. TAR has no password field, so the output is unencrypted. File contents and relative names carry across. ZIP comments, permissions and archive-specific metadata are not a promise of this conversion.

Your archive workspace, control by control

Create, Open & extract, Convert and Password

Use the mode buttons to choose the job. Create bundles your original inputs. Other modes read one supported archive and work with its contents. Switching modes keeps the source available; Clear removes it.

Choose, search and select

The file menu offers a picker, paste and From your phone. Add more brings in more inputs in Create. For an existing archive, Open another replaces the source. Search filters paths in the contents list. Select all selects visible entries; clearing the search reveals files outside the filter. Check the selected count before building.

Output format, compression and name

Choose ZIP for general sharing, TAR for an uncompressed bundle or TAR.GZ for a gzip-compressed tarball. ZIP offers Store, Fast, Balanced and Smaller compression. Name your output in the name field. Building prepares the output and shows its actual byte size. Changing the selection or settings requires a fresh build.

Current password and new password

Current password opens encrypted source entries. A new password protects the output ZIP with AES-256. Add and Remove choose the password action. Remove requires the known current password and creates an unencrypted copy. TAR and TAR.GZ outputs cannot carry ZIP encryption.

Build, Cancel, Save and Clear

Build archive prepares the chosen result and shows its size. Open & extract uses Prepare files instead. Cancel stops that work. Save in the file bar saves the prepared output. Open in and Share use the same result. Clear returns to the empty state and clears password fields. Try sample lets you explore without opening your own files.

Narrow, Wide or Full

Use Narrow, Wide or Full at the top right of the tool to choose its space. Open another tool keeps this workspace on the desk. A page reload loses the files held in this tab.

What this tool will not do

It cannot crack passwords, repair damaged archives or open RAR, 7z, split archives or TAR.XZ. It does not execute files, scan for malware or preserve a Unix filesystem backup. Inputs and expanded contents have explicit memory limits. Use a desktop archiver for those jobs.