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Z TAR
Free online converter

Convert Z to TAR

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Z to TAR converterFREE
Drop a .Z file here
or pick one - we convert it to .TAR and give you the file to download

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Tested on macOS, Windows & Linux
Last verified Oct 2026

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How to convert Z to TAR

  1. Add your .Z file - drop it in the box above or click to browse.
  2. Convert it to .TAR in a few seconds.
  3. Download your new .TAR file.

What to expect

  • A .Z file that does not wrap a tar archive decompresses to its original contents - check with file yourfile.Z if you are unsure what is inside.
  • The gzip -d command handles .Z files because gzip was built backward-compatible with the old Unix compress format.
  • The resulting .tar has no encryption - the .Z format does not support passwords or access control.

Frequently asked questions

My file is named `something.Z` with no `.tar` in the name - will I get a `.tar`?
Not automatically. Decompress it first and check what comes out - if the original was a tar archive you get a .tar; if it was a plain file, you get that file back.
Can I skip the `.tar` and extract files directly?
Yes - on Linux/macOS, tar xzf file.tar.Z decompresses and unpacks in a single step with no intermediate .tar written to disk.
Do file names, permissions, and timestamps survive the conversion?
Yes - stripping the .Z layer does not touch the tar archive inside, so all metadata is preserved exactly.
Is there a built-in Windows tool for `.Z` files?
No - Windows has no native .Z support, so 7-Zip (free) is the standard choice.
Learn about the formats: .Z · .TAR