Open and extract a TAR file online
Open a .tar file in your browser, check which files and folders it bundles, and download everything or only what you tick, without installing any software.
or click to select it
TAR bundles files without compressing them. The tool walks the archive block by block (512-byte headers) and recognizes regular files and folders. When you extract, a single file downloads as-is; several files are delivered inside a new ZIP that keeps their folder paths, because a browser can't create folders on your disk.
Use cases
- Checking a server's .tar backup before restoring anything.
- Recovering a single config file from a .tar package.
- Opening a .tar on Windows or a phone without installing command-line tools.
How it works
- 1
Upload the TAR
Drag it in or pick it from your device (up to 50 MB).
- 2
Click "Open TAR"
You'll see every file with its path and size, plus a summary of files, folders and total uncompressed size.
- 3
Download what you need
"Extract all" downloads the full contents; if you tick boxes, "Extract selected" downloads just those files.
Technical details
- Limits: 50 MB input file, at most 2,000 entries and 300 MB in total once decompressed.
- Uncompressed .tar only. For .tar.gz or .tgz, use the extract TAR.GZ tool.
- Symbolic links, hard links and device files are safely skipped.
- Long names in GNU or PAX format (over 100 characters) aren't supported and may appear truncated.
- Unix permissions, owners and timestamps aren't kept in the downloaded files.
- Entries with unsafe paths ("../", absolute paths or drive letters) are dropped and never downloaded; empty folders aren't included in the download.
Frequently asked questions
Can I view the contents without extracting anything?
Yes. The button only shows the file list with sizes; nothing downloads until you choose "Extract all" or "Extract selected".
Are file permissions preserved?
No. Files download with their content intact, but without the Unix permissions, owners or timestamps stored in the TAR. If you need them, extract it with "tar -xf" on Linux or macOS.