Why convert ADF to ADZ?
A standard double-density ADF is exactly 901,120 bytes. Converting to ADZ - the same data compressed with gzip - roughly halves the file size. ADZ is the conventional format used by online Amiga archives and ROM sets, and emulators such as WinUAE, FS-UAE, and Amiberry read it natively so end users need no extra step.
How to convert ADF to ADZ
gzip FREE
Run gzip -k disk.adf to compress while keeping the original, then rename disk.adf.gz to disk.adz. On macOS the same command works in Terminal; on Windows use Git Bash or WSL.
7-Zip FREE
Right-click the .adf, choose 7-Zip > Add to archive, set Archive format to gzip, and change the output filename extension to .adz.
About these formats
.ADF
Amiga Disk File
An ADF file is an Amiga Disk File, a track-by-track image of a Commodore Amiga floppy disk. Mount it in an Amiga emulator such as WinUAE (Windows) or FS-UAE (cross-platform) to run the…
Open .ADF details →
.ADZ
Amiga emulator compressed ADF file
A .ADZ file is associated with Amiga emulator compressed ADF, a disk image file.
Open .ADZ details →Quality & what to watch
- ADZ is a standard gzip stream with a renamed extension - if a tool rejects
.adz, rename it to.adf.gzto proceed. - The conversion is fully lossless; decompressing an ADZ gives a bit-for-bit identical ADF.
- Copy-protected disks that cannot be accurately captured as plain ADF (they require IPF format) are not fixed by compressing to ADZ.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to decompress an ADZ before loading it in an emulator?
How do I convert ADZ back to ADF?
disk.adz to disk.adf.gz and run gunzip disk.adf.gz, or use 7-Zip > Extract here.
