﻿ TGZ File Extension - What is it and how to open TGZ format - Review

Opening TGZ files

Have a problem opening a .TGZ file? We collect information about file formats and can explain what TGZ files are. Additionally we recommend software suitable for opening or converting such files.

What is the .TGZ file type?

The TGZ file extension is a short form of the double TAR.GZ extension. It is assigned to TAR files which have been compressed using the Gnu Zip (GZIP) algorithm with disk space requirements and data transfer rates being reduced accordingly.

The TAR archiving format is used to aggregate a group of files into one easy-to-manage package, but it doesn’t feature any compression on its own. To reduce the archive size, .tar files are compressed with the Gnu Zip algorithm, resulting in a final .tgz file.


The main purpose of gzipped tar files is distribution and backup of information. The TGZ file extension is commonly used for software installation packages while the double TAR.GZ extension is more typical for archives.

TGZ files are designed for utilization on Unix, Linux and OS X systems, but they are not supported in the Windows environment without some third party software. With the right compression/decompression application, you can easily unpack a TGZ archive file and get access to its contents.


Software to open or convert TGZ files

You can open TGZ files with the following programs:
WinRAR by win.rar GmbH
WinZip by WinZip Computing, S.L.

Popular formats