Extract Compressed Files using tar in Linux

How to Extract Compressed Files using the `tar` Command in Linux

Hey there, and welcome to this hands-on Linux tutorial from ProgramGuru.org! 👋

Today, we're going to walk through one of the most common tasks every Linux user faces — extracting compressed files using the tar command.

We’ll look at how to handle different archive formats like:

Let’s get started!

Imagine you’ve downloaded a file called project.tar. This file is just a collection of files bundled together without compression.

To extract it, run:

tar -xvf project.tar

Let’s break it down:

Here's what the output might look like:

file1.txt
file2.txt
images/
images/logo.png

These files are archived and compressed using gzip. The command is just as simple:

tar -xvzf project.tar.gz

Or if the file is named project.tgz:

tar -xvzf project.tgz

Here’s the output:

project/
project/main.cpp
project/README.md

And again, here’s what the options mean:

If your file uses bzip2 compression, like project.tar.bz2, you’ll need to use the -j flag:

tar -xvjf project.tar.bz2

That tells tar to use bzip2 while extracting.

project/
project/index.html
project/style.css

Want to extract files to a custom folder? Use the -C option:

tar -xvzf project.tar.gz -C /home/yourname/projects/

Here’s a quick cheat sheet:

And that’s it! You've now mastered the basics of extracting compressed files using tar in Linux.

Thanks for learning with us at ProgramGuru.org. If this was helpful, be sure to check out our other beginner-friendly Linux guides. 🚀