- 1Linux Topics Index
- 2How to Create a File in Linux
- 3How to Rename a File in Linux
- 4How to Copy a File in Linux
- 5How to Move a File in Linux
- 6How to Delete a File in Linux
- 7How to Create a Directory in Linux
- 8How to Delete a Directory in Linux
- 9How to Copy Directories Recursively in Linux
- 10Delete Directories Recursively in Linux
- 11How to View Hidden Files in Linux
- 12How to Create a Hidden File in Linux
- 13How to Create a Hidden Directory in Linux
- 14How to Find Files in Linux Using find Command
- 15Find Files in Linux Using locate Command
- 16How to View File Contents Using cat in Linux
- 17How to View File Contents Using less in Linux
- 18View File Contents Using the more Command in Linux
- 19Compare Files Using diff Command in Linux
- 20Compare Files in Linux Using cmp Command
- 21Check File Type in Linux with file Command
- 22Create Symbolic Links with ln -s in Linux
- 23How to Archive Files Using tar Command in Linux
- 24Compress Files with gzip in Linux – Beginner Tutorial
- 25How to Compress Files Using bzip2 in Linux
- 26Compress Files in Linux Using zip Command
- 27Extract Compressed Files using tar in Linux
- 28Extract ZIP Files on Linux with unzip
- 29How to Extract .gz Files using gunzip in Linux

- 1Linux Topics Index
- 2How to Create a File in Linux
- 3How to Rename a File in Linux
- 4How to Copy a File in Linux
- 5How to Move a File in Linux
- 6How to Delete a File in Linux
- 7How to Create a Directory in Linux
- 8How to Delete a Directory in Linux
- 9How to Copy Directories Recursively in Linux
- 10Delete Directories Recursively in Linux
- 11How to View Hidden Files in Linux
- 12How to Create a Hidden File in Linux
- 13How to Create a Hidden Directory in Linux
- 14How to Find Files in Linux Using find Command
- 15Find Files in Linux Using locate Command
- 16How to View File Contents Using cat in Linux
- 17How to View File Contents Using less in Linux
- 18View File Contents Using the more Command in Linux
- 19Compare Files Using diff Command in Linux
- 20Compare Files in Linux Using cmp Command
- 21Check File Type in Linux with file Command
- 22Create Symbolic Links with ln -s in Linux
- 23How to Archive Files Using tar Command in Linux
- 24Compress Files with gzip in Linux – Beginner Tutorial
- 25How to Compress Files Using bzip2 in Linux
- 26Compress Files in Linux Using zip Command
- 27Extract Compressed Files using tar in Linux
- 28Extract ZIP Files on Linux with unzip
- 29How to Extract .gz Files using gunzip in Linux

- 1How to Add a New User in Linux
- 2Modify Existing User in Linux
- 3Delete a User in Linux — Step-by-Step for Beginners
- 4Create a User Group in Linux - Step-by-Step Tutorial
- 5Linux: Add User to Group
- 6How to Remove a User from a Group in Linux
- 7Delete a User Group in Linux - Beginner Friendly Tutorial
- 8Linux su Command Tutorial – Switch Users Easily
- 9Linux sudo Command - Execute as Another User
- 10Change a User's Password in Linux Using passwd
- 11Set Password Expiry in Linux using chage
- 12Lock a User Account in Linux
- 13How to Unlock a User Account in Linux
- 14Configure User Login Shell in Linux
- 15How to Configure User Environment Variables in Linux
- 16Edit .bashrc and .profile in Linux - User Startup Files Tutorial
How to Compress Files Using bzip2 Command in Linux
Next Topic ⮕Compress Files in Linux Using zip Command
How to Compress Files Using bzip2
in Linux
Hey there! 👋 Welcome to this Linux tutorial, brought to you by ProgramGuru.org. Today, we're going to learn how to compress files using the bzip2
command — a powerful and space-efficient compression tool available in most Linux systems.
If you’ve ever wanted to save disk space, or make your file transfers faster, bzip2
is a fantastic tool to have in your Linux toolbox. Let’s walk through it step by step.
What is bzip2
?
bzip2
is a command-line utility that compresses single files using the Burrows–Wheeler algorithm. It usually provides better compression ratios than gzip
.
Step 1: Check if bzip2
is installed
On most modern Linux distros, bzip2
comes pre-installed. But you can verify it with this command:
bzip2 --version
If it's not installed, you can add it using your package manager:
sudo apt install bzip2 # Debian/Ubuntu
sudo yum install bzip2 # RHEL/CentOS
sudo dnf install bzip2 # Fedora
Step 2: Create a sample file
Let’s create a test file to practice with:
echo "This is a test file for compression." > testfile.txt
Step 3: Compress the file
Now let’s compress it using bzip2
:
bzip2 testfile.txt
This command will replace the original file with a compressed version:
testfile.txt.bz2
Notice that the original testfile.txt
is gone — it’s now inside the compressed file testfile.txt.bz2
.
Want to Keep the Original File?
Use the -k
(keep) option:
bzip2 -k testfile.txt
testfile.txt
testfile.txt.bz2
Step 4: View the compressed file size
ls -lh testfile.txt.bz2
Step 5: Decompress the file
To unzip it back to the original form, use bunzip2
:
bunzip2 testfile.txt.bz2
Or use the -d
flag with bzip2
:
bzip2 -d testfile.txt.bz2
Bonus Tip: Compress Multiple Files?
bzip2
only works on single files. If you want to compress a whole folder or multiple files, you should first archive them using tar
:
tar -cvjf archive.tar.bz2 foldername/
This command:
-c
: creates an archive-v
: shows progress-j
: compresses using bzip2-f
: specifies the filename
Recap
bzip2 filename
→ compresses the filebunzip2 filename.bz2
→ decompresses it-k
option → keeps original filetar -cvjf
→ compresses directories
And that’s it! 🎉 You now know how to compress and decompress files using bzip2
. Keep practicing and try it on your own files. If you found this helpful, check out more Linux tutorials at ProgramGuru.org!