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In this lesson, you’ll learn how to efficiently compress and decompress files on Linux using gzip, bzip2, xz, zip, and tar. Mastering these tools helps you save storage space and speed up file transfers across systems.

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Table of Contents

  1. Compression Utilities Overview
  2. Basic Compression with gzip, bzip2, and xz
  3. Keeping Original Files
  4. Creating and Extracting zip Archives
  5. Combining tar with Compression
  6. Links and References

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1. Compression Utilities Overview

Most Linux distributions include three primary compression tools by default:
UtilityFile ExtensionCompress CommandDecompress Command
gzip.gzgzip filegunzip file.gz
bzip2.bz2bzip2 filebunzip2 file.bz2
xz.xzxz fileunxz file.xz
These utilities overwrite the original file with its compressed version unless you specify otherwise.

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2. Basic Compression with gzip, bzip2, and xz

To compress a single file: 
$ gzip file1       # Creates file1.gz and deletes file1
$ bzip2 file2      # Creates file2.bz2 and deletes file2
$ xz file3         # Creates file3.xz and deletes file3
To decompress: 
$ gunzip file1.gz     # Restores file1 and deletes file1.gz
$ bunzip2 file2.bz2   # Restores file2 and deletes file2.bz2
$ unxz file3.xz       # Restores file3 and deletes file3.xz
You can also use the long-form --decompress (or -d) flag: 
$ gzip --decompress file1.gz
$ bzip2 --decompress file2.bz2
$ xz --decompress file3.xz
By default, these commands remove the original file after compressing or decompressing.

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3. Keeping Original Files

To retain the input files alongside the compressed versions, add the -k (or --keep) flag: 
$ gzip --keep file1     # Leaves file1 and creates file1.gz
$ bzip2 --keep file2    # Leaves file2 and creates file2.bz2
$ xz --keep file3       # Leaves file3 and creates file3.xz
Check details of a compressed file using the --list (or -l) option: 
$ gzip --list file1.gz
   compressed     uncompressed  ratio  uncompressed_name
            71               78   39.7%  file1

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4. Creating and Extracting zip Archives

The zip utility bundles and compresses files into a single archive. To compress individual files: 
$ zip archive.zip file1
  adding: file1 (deflated 40%)
Recursively compress a directory (e.g., Pictures/): 
$ zip -r archive.zip Pictures/
  adding: Pictures/ (stored 0%)
  adding: Pictures/family_dog.jpg (stored 0%)
Extract a .zip archive with unzip: 
$ unzip archive.zip
Archive:  archive.zip
  inflating: file1
  inflating: Pictures/family_dog.jpg
Unlike gzip, bzip2, and xz, the zip format natively supports multiple files and directories in one archive.

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5. Combining tar with Compression

To package multiple files or directories and compress them in one step, use tar together with a compression option.

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5.1 Creating a Tar Archive, Then Compressing

  1. Create a tarball: 
    $ tar --create --file archive.tar file1 file2 dir/
  2. Compress it: 
    $ gzip archive.tar        # → archive.tar.gz
$ bzip2 archive.tar       # → archive.tar.bz2
$ xz archive.tar          # → archive.tar.xz

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5.2 One-Step Creation and Compression

Use the appropriate flag to combine creation and compression:
CompressorShort OptionCommand Example
gzip-ztar -czf archive.tar.gz file1 dir/
bzip2-jtar -cjf archive.tar.bz2 file1 dir/
xz-Jtar -cJf archive.tar.xz file1 dir/
auto--auto-compress or -atar -caf archive.tar.gz file1 dir/

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5.3 Extracting Compressed Tarballs

tar auto-detects compression, so extracting is straightforward: 
$ tar --extract --file archive.tar.gz    # or
$ tar xf archive.tar.xz
Overwriting existing files when extracting archives can lead to data loss. Always verify the contents before extraction or use --list (-t) to preview:
$ tar -tf archive.tar.gz

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