TGZ file format
| Extension | .tgz |
| Category | archives |
| Programs | Smith Micro Stuffit Deluxe 2010 WinRAR 5 Corel WinZip 18.5 Zipeg Incredible Bee Archiver Tar |
| Description | Files with the .tgz extension originate from archived TAR files compressed with gzip—the compressed files sports an extension of either .tar.gz or .tgz. The TGZ format is created for use in UNIX-based systems. The constituent TAR file serves as an archive for multiple files before compression into TGZ. TGZ file format is commonly used as an installation module in some operating systems' executable installation files. |
| Technical details | The TGZ file format was initially created by Mark Adler and Jean Loop Gaily, with the first release going public in 1992. TGZ was designed explicitly for use on the GNU project for open-source applications. The most recent update of the TGZ format was released in June 2013. The file format and its accompanying creator applications were developed to modify relatively large files. Relative to other common types of ZIP files, the TGZ files can store much larger data volume. Also, TGZ format differs from zipped files in that unlike the multiple files compressed to form .zip file types, .tgz files can only squeeze a single TAR archive file into TGZ. |
| MIME type | application/x-gtar-compressed |