tar.gz or tgz is a file extension used for the gzip-compressed tar archive. It's commonly used for file distribution in Linux as it provides a good balance between compression ratio and compression/decompression speed.

tar.gz file could be extracted using tar program, which is included in most Linux distributions by default. tar is a command-line program, though it is used as the backend for other GUI-based programs.

Steps to extract gzip-compressed tar archive in Linux :

  1. Launch terminal application.
  2. Check if file is a valid gzip archive (optional). 

    $ file archive.tar.gz archive.tar.gz: gzip compressed data, last modified: Wed Aug 21 08:36:18 2019, from Unix, original size 10240

  3. Create folder where you want to extract the file onto (optional). 

    $ mkdir target

  4. Go to the target directory where you want to extract the file (optional). 

    $ cd target

  5. Extract using tar command. 

    $ tar --extract --gzip --verbose --file=/home/user/archive.tar.gz #Simplified version: tar -xzvf /home/user/archive.tar.gz folder/ folder/sub-02/ folder/sub-02/file-02 folder/sub-02/file-01 folder/sub-01/ folder/sub-01/file-02 folder/sub-01/file-01

    Options for tar. 

    $ tar --help Usage: tar [OPTION...] [FILE]... GNU 'tar' saves many files together into a single tape or disk archive, and can restore individual files from the archive.  Examples:   tar -cf archive.tar foo bar  # Create archive.tar from files foo and bar.   tar -tvf archive.tar         # List all files in archive.tar verbosely.   tar -xf archive.tar          # Extract all files from archive.tar.   Local file name selection:        --add-file=FILE        add given FILE to the archive (useful if its name                              starts with a dash)   -C, --directory=DIR        change to directory DIR       --exclude=PATTERN      exclude files, given as a PATTERN       --exclude-backups      exclude backup and lock files       --exclude-caches       exclude contents of directories containing                              CACHEDIR.TAG, except for the tag file itself       --exclude-caches-all   exclude directories containing CACHEDIR.TAG       --exclude-caches-under exclude everything under directories containing                              CACHEDIR.TAG       --exclude-ignore=FILE  read exclude patterns for each directory from                              FILE, if it exists       --exclude-ignore-recursive=FILE                              read exclude patterns for each directory and its                              subdirectories from FILE, if it exists       --exclude-tag=FILE     exclude contents of directories containing FILE,                              except for FILE itself       --exclude-tag-all=FILE exclude directories containing FILE       --exclude-tag-under=FILE   exclude everything under directories                              containing FILE       --exclude-vcs          exclude version control system directories       --exclude-vcs-ignores  read exclude patterns from the VCS ignore files       --no-null              disable the effect of the previous --null option       --no-recursion         avoid descending automatically in directories       --no-unquote           do not unquote input file or member names       --no-verbatim-files-from   -T treats file names starting with dash as                              options (default)       --null                 -T reads null-terminated names; implies                              --verbatim-files-from       --recursion            recurse into directories (default)   -T, --files-from=FILE      get names to extract or create from FILE       --unquote              unquote input file or member names (default)       --verbatim-files-from  -T reads file names verbatim (no escape or option                              handling)   -X, --exclude-from=FILE    exclude patterns listed in FILE   File name matching options (affect both exclude and include patterns):        --anchored             patterns match file name start       --ignore-case          ignore case       --no-anchored          patterns match after any '/' (default for                              exclusion)       --no-ignore-case       case sensitive matching (default)       --no-wildcards         verbatim string matching       --no-wildcards-match-slash   wildcards do not match '/'       --wildcards            use wildcards (default for exclusion)       --wildcards-match-slash   wildcards match '/' (default for exclusion)   Main operation mode:    -A, --catenate, --concatenate   append tar files to an archive   -c, --create               create a new archive   -d, --diff, --compare      find differences between archive and file system       --delete               delete from the archive (not on mag tapes!)   -r, --append               append files to the end of an archive   -t, --list                 list the contents of an archive       --test-label           test the archive volume label and exit   -u, --update               only append files newer than copy in archive   -x, --extract, --get       extract files from an archive   Operation modifiers:        --check-device         check device numbers when creating incremental                              archives (default)   -g, --listed-incremental=FILE   handle new GNU-format incremental backup   -G, --incremental          handle old GNU-format incremental backup       --hole-detection=TYPE  technique to detect holes       --ignore-failed-read   do not exit with nonzero on unreadable files       --level=NUMBER         dump level for created listed-incremental archive   -n, --seek                 archive is seekable       --no-check-device      do not check device numbers when creating                              incremental archives       --no-seek              archive is not seekable       --occurrence[=NUMBER]  process only the NUMBERth occurrence of each file                              in the archive; this option is valid only in                              conjunction with one of the subcommands --delete,                              --diff, --extract or --list and when a list of                              files is given either on the command line or via                              the -T option; NUMBER defaults to 1       --sparse-version=MAJOR[.MINOR]                              set version of the sparse format to use (implies                              --sparse)   -S, --sparse               handle sparse files efficiently   Overwrite control:    -k, --keep-old-files       don't replace existing files when extracting,                              treat them as errors       --keep-directory-symlink   preserve existing symlinks to directories when                              extracting       --keep-newer-files     don't replace existing files that are newer than                              their archive copies       --no-overwrite-dir     preserve metadata of existing directories       --one-top-level[=DIR]  create a subdirectory to avoid having loose files                              extracted       --overwrite            overwrite existing files when extracting       --overwrite-dir        overwrite metadata of existing directories when                              extracting (default)       --recursive-unlink     empty hierarchies prior to extracting directory       --remove-files         remove files after adding them to the archive       --skip-old-files       don't replace existing files when extracting,                              silently skip over them   -U, --unlink-first         remove each file prior to extracting over it   -W, --verify               attempt to verify the archive after writing it   Select output stream:        --ignore-command-error ignore exit codes of children       --no-ignore-command-error   treat non-zero exit codes of children as                              error   -O, --to-stdout            extract files to standard output       --to-command=COMMAND   pipe extracted files to another program   Handling of file attributes:        --atime-preserve[=METHOD]   preserve access times on dumped files, either                              by restoring the times after reading                              (METHOD='replace'; default) or by not setting the                              times in the first place (METHOD='system')       --clamp-mtime          only set time when the file is more recent than                              what was given with --mtime       --delay-directory-restore   delay setting modification times and                              permissions of extracted directories until the end                              of extraction       --group=NAME           force NAME as group for added files       --group-map=FILE       use FILE to map file owner GIDs and names       --mode=CHANGES         force (symbolic) mode CHANGES for added files       --mtime=DATE-OR-FILE   set mtime for added files from DATE-OR-FILE   -m, --touch                don't extract file modified time       --no-delay-directory-restore                              cancel the effect of --delay-directory-restore                              option       --no-same-owner        extract files as yourself (default for ordinary                              users)       --no-same-permissions  apply the user's umask when extracting permissions                              from the archive (default for ordinary users)       --numeric-owner        always use numbers for user/group names       --owner=NAME           force NAME as owner for added files       --owner-map=FILE       use FILE to map file owner UIDs and names   -p, --preserve-permissions, --same-permissions                              extract information about file permissions                              (default for superuser)       --same-owner           try extracting files with the same ownership as                              exists in the archive (default for superuser)   -s, --preserve-order, --same-order                              member arguments are listed in the same order as                              the files in the archive       --sort=ORDER           directory sorting order: none (default), name or                              inode   Handling of extended file attributes:        --acls                 Enable the POSIX ACLs support       --no-acls              Disable the POSIX ACLs support       --no-selinux           Disable the SELinux context support       --no-xattrs            Disable extended attributes support       --selinux              Enable the SELinux context support       --xattrs               Enable extended attributes support       --xattrs-exclude=MASK  specify the exclude pattern for xattr keys       --xattrs-include=MASK  specify the include pattern for xattr keys   Device selection and switching:    -f, --file=ARCHIVE         use archive file or device ARCHIVE       --force-local          archive file is local even if it has a colon   -F, --info-script=NAME, --new-volume-script=NAME                              run script at end of each tape (implies -M)   -L, --tape-length=NUMBER   change tape after writing NUMBER x 1024 bytes   -M, --multi-volume         create/list/extract multi-volume archive       --rmt-command=COMMAND  use given rmt COMMAND instead of rmt       --rsh-command=COMMAND  use remote COMMAND instead of rsh       --volno-file=FILE      use/update the volume number in FILE   Device blocking:    -b, --blocking-factor=BLOCKS   BLOCKS x 512 bytes per record   -B, --read-full-records    reblock as we read (for 4.2BSD pipes)   -i, --ignore-zeros         ignore zeroed blocks in archive (means EOF)       --record-size=NUMBER   NUMBER of bytes per record, multiple of 512   Archive format selection:    -H, --format=FORMAT        create archive of the given format   FORMAT is one of the following:      gnu                      GNU tar 1.13.x format     oldgnu                   GNU format as per tar <= 1.12     pax                      POSIX 1003.1-2001 (pax) format     posix                    same as pax     ustar                    POSIX 1003.1-1988 (ustar) format     v7                       old V7 tar format        --old-archive, --portability                              same as --format=v7       --pax-option=keyword[[:]=value][,keyword[[:]=value]]...                              control pax keywords       --posix                same as --format=posix   -V, --label=TEXT           create archive with volume name TEXT; at                              list/extract time, use TEXT as a globbing pattern                              for volume name   Compression options:    -a, --auto-compress        use archive suffix to determine the compression                              program   -I, --use-compress-program=PROG                              filter through PROG (must accept -d)   -j, --bzip2                filter the archive through bzip2   -J, --xz                   filter the archive through xz       --lzip                 filter the archive through lzip       --lzma                 filter the archive through xz       --lzop                 filter the archive through lzop       --no-auto-compress     do not use archive suffix to determine the                              compression program   -z, --gzip, --gunzip, --ungzip   filter the archive through gzip       --zstd                 filter the archive through zstd   -Z, --compress, --uncompress   filter the archive through compress   Local file selection:        --backup[=CONTROL]     backup before removal, choose version CONTROL   -h, --dereference          follow symlinks; archive and dump the files they                              point to       --hard-dereference     follow hard links; archive and dump the files they                              refer to   -K, --starting-file=MEMBER-NAME                              begin at member MEMBER-NAME when reading the                              archive       --newer-mtime=DATE     compare date and time when data changed only   -N, --newer=DATE-OR-FILE, --after-date=DATE-OR-FILE                              only store files newer than DATE-OR-FILE       --one-file-system      stay in local file system when creating archive   -P, --absolute-names       don't strip leading '/'s from file names       --suffix=STRING        backup before removal, override usual suffix ('~'                              unless overridden by environment variable                              SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX)   File name transformations:        --strip-components=NUMBER   strip NUMBER leading components from file                              names on extraction       --transform=EXPRESSION, --xform=EXPRESSION                              use sed replace EXPRESSION to transform file                              names   Informative output:        --checkpoint[=NUMBER]  display progress messages every NUMBERth record                              (default 10)       --checkpoint-action=ACTION   execute ACTION on each checkpoint       --full-time            print file time to its full resolution       --index-file=FILE      send verbose output to FILE   -l, --check-links          print a message if not all links are dumped       --no-quote-chars=STRING   disable quoting for characters from STRING       --quote-chars=STRING   additionally quote characters from STRING       --quoting-style=STYLE  set name quoting style; see below for valid STYLE                              values   -R, --block-number         show block number within archive with each message        --show-defaults        show tar defaults       --show-omitted-dirs    when listing or extracting, list each directory                              that does not match search criteria       --show-snapshot-field-ranges                              show valid ranges for snapshot-file fields       --show-transformed-names, --show-stored-names                              show file or archive names after transformation       --totals[=SIGNAL]      print total bytes after processing the archive;                              with an argument - print total bytes when this                              SIGNAL is delivered; Allowed signals are: SIGHUP,                              SIGQUIT, SIGINT, SIGUSR1 and SIGUSR2; the names                              without SIG prefix are also accepted       --utc                  print file modification times in UTC   -v, --verbose              verbosely list files processed       --warning=KEYWORD      warning control   -w, --interactive, --confirmation                              ask for confirmation for every action   Compatibility options:    -o                         when creating, same as --old-archive; when                              extracting, same as --no-same-owner   Other options:    -?, --help                 give this help list       --restrict             disable use of some potentially harmful options       --usage                give a short usage message       --version              print program version  Mandatory or optional arguments to long options are also mandatory or optional for any corresponding short options.  The backup suffix is '~', unless set with --suffix or SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX. The version control may be set with --backup or VERSION_CONTROL, values are:    none, off       never make backups   t, numbered     make numbered backups   nil, existing   numbered if numbered backups exist, simple otherwise   never, simple   always make simple backups  Valid arguments for the --quoting-style option are:    literal   shell   shell-always   shell-escape   shell-escape-always   c   c-maybe   escape   locale   clocale  *This* tar defaults to: --format=gnu -f- -b20 --quoting-style=escape --rmt-command=/usr/sbin/rmt --rsh-command=/usr/bin/rsh

  6. View content of extracted file. 

    $ ls -R .: folder  ./folder: sub-01  sub-02  ./folder/sub-01: file-01  file-02  ./folder/sub-02: file-01  file-02