How to Extract Compressed Files using gunzip Command

How to Extract Compressed Files using gunzip in Linux

Hey there! 👋 Welcome to this beginner-friendly tutorial from programguru.org. Today, we're going to learn how to extract compressed files with the gunzip command in Linux.

If you've ever downloaded a file ending with .gz and wondered how to open it, you're in the right place. The gunzip command is used to decompress files that were compressed using gzip.

🔧 Step 1: Check if gunzip is installed

Most Linux distributions come with gunzip pre-installed. But just to be sure, you can run:

gunzip --version

gunzip (gzip) 1.10
Copyright (C) 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

If it shows a version number like above, you’re good to go!

📂 Step 2: Navigate to the folder with the .gz file

Use the cd command to move to the directory where your compressed file is located:

cd Downloads

📤 Step 3: Use gunzip to extract the file

Now let’s say you have a file named data.txt.gz. To extract it, run:

gunzip data.txt.gz

(no output means success!)

After extraction, you’ll see a new file called data.txt, and the original .gz file will be removed by default.

📝 Want to keep the original .gz file?

If you'd like to keep the original compressed file, use the -c option and redirect the output:

gunzip -c data.txt.gz > data.txt

This will decompress the content but preserve the original .gz file.

🧪 Step 4: Verify the extracted file

You can now open or view the file using commands like:

cat data.txt

This is sample data inside the file.

🧼 Bonus Tip: Extract multiple .gz files at once

If you have many files ending in .gz, you can extract them all in one command:

gunzip *.gz

🎉 That’s it!

Now you know how to use gunzip to extract compressed files in Linux like a pro. Whether it's a single file or a whole folder full of .gz archives, you're ready to handle them with confidence.

Thanks for learning with us at programguru.org. See you in the next tutorial! 👋