Archive Converter

About this converter

Archives bundle several files into one and usually compress them as they go. ZIP and 7-Zip pack files directly, while TAR keeps a plain stream that gzip, bzip2 or xz then compress. People download software packages, share photo collections, move project folders and unpack backups, and the archive they receive is often in a format their own system does not open by default.

The converter reads the formats below and writes the archive format you choose. It repacks the files inside rather than re-encoding their content, so a document or photo keeps its bytes while the container and compression method change. An archive that sits inside another is carried into the new archive as a file rather than unpacked on its own.

How it works

Formats you can convert

The archive catalog covers the common packaging formats of Windows, Unix and the web. Each one below is recognised on upload, and the target you choose sets the container and the compression method.

• ZIP — the universal archive that Windows and macOS open natively
• 7-Zip — 7-Zip's container, with strong compression and encryption support
• TAR — a plain Unix bundle with no compression of its own
• TAR + gzip — a TAR stream compressed with gzip, the usual Unix package
• TAR + bzip2 — a TAR stream compressed with bzip2
• TAR + xz — a TAR stream compressed with xz
• RAR — a proprietary archive this tool opens but never creates
• gzip — gzip compression for a single file
• bzip2 — bzip2 compression for a single file
• xz — xz compression for a single file

Quality and what changes

Archives are mostly lossless: repacking a file copies its bytes, and only the compression method changes. A ZIP or TAR archive converted to another archive holds the same files with the same contents. Compression level changes how hard the encoder works, never the data, so an archive is one of the few conversions here that can be described as exact. The exception is a damaged or encrypted archive, which cannot be opened without the password.

Privacy and limits

Guests can convert files up to 100 megabytes and run 5 conversions per day. A free account raises the limit to 500 megabytes and 25 conversions per day, and paid plans go up to 100 gigabytes.

Files you upload and the results you download are kept only long enough for you to collect them and are deleted after 2 hours. After that window nothing of yours remains on the server.

You do not need an account to convert a file; signing in only raises the size and daily limits.

Questions and answers