TAR.XZ to ZIP Converter
Drop a .tar.xz or .txz file below and get a ZIP that opens without a command line. The xz layer and the tarball inside are unpacked in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
- Runs in your browser
- No upload
- No signup or watermark
- Free
Convert TAR.XZ to ZIP free and private, without a command line
To convert TAR.XZ to ZIP free and private, drag your .tar.xz or .txz file onto the converter above (or click it to browse), keep ZIP selected and press Convert to ZIP. The xz compression is undone, the TAR inside is unpacked and everything is rewritten as a ZIP in your browser tab, then offered as a download named after the file: docs-2.3.tar.xz becomes docs-2.3.zip. Nothing is uploaded, which the Network tab in DevTools will confirm.
A .tar.xz (or .txz) is a TAR bundle compressed with xz, the LZMA2-based format from the Tukaani project, first released in 2009. It usually makes smaller files than gzip or bzip2, which is why kernel.org publishes Linux kernel source as .tar.xz and many distributions use it for source packages. The price of conversion is size: in our test, the 32 files of the react-dom 18.3.1 npm package were 380 KB as .tar.xz and 1.15 MB as ZIP, about three times larger.
For gzip or bzip2 archives use the TAR.GZ to ZIP converter or the TAR.BZ2 to ZIP converter, and for 7-Zip files the 7Z to ZIP converter. As of October 2026, Windows 11 opens .tar.xz in File Explorer (since Microsoft’s optional update KB5031455 in October 2023); Windows 10’s File Explorer cannot.
Your files stay on this device
This converter runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded. When you add your first archive, the page fetches its engine, a WebAssembly build of libarchive of about 1 MB, from zipconvert.com. Your TAR.XZ file is then read from disk and rewritten as ZIP inside the tab. To check, open DevTools, switch to the Network tab and convert a file: apart from those engine files, no request carries it. The privacy policy covers the rest of the site.
Table of Use: TAR.XZ to ZIP by kind of file
| Your file | What to do | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| A source release or package such as docs-2.3.tar.xz | Drop it and press Convert to ZIP | A ZIP with the full folder tree |
| A file named .txz | The same steps; .txz is the short form | The same result, because the format is read from the contents |
| A tarball with long paths or symbolic links | The same steps | pax and GNU long names are read, and symlinks are stored as Unix links in the ZIP |
| A .tar.xz you want to keep small | Keep the original | For text and code the ZIP is several times larger (about three times in our test), because xz is the stronger compressor |
| A single file compressed with xz, such as data.csv.xz | Decompress it with xz, 7-Zip or Keka | The converter reports a single compressed file, not a tarball, and writes nothing |
| A download cut short or altered | Download it again | A “damaged or incomplete” message with the xz error; no ZIP is written |
Publishers of source releases usually list a SHA-256 checksum next to the download. Compare it with the file hash calculator before trusting the contents: the converter’s own check proves that the xz data is intact, not that it is the file the publisher released.
Features
- Unpacks xz and TAR in the tab. The xz layer is decoded by libarchive 3.7.2, compiled to WebAssembly, and the TAR inside is read straight afterwards. The format is recognised from the xz signature in the first bytes, whatever the extension says.
- Catches damage. xz streams carry integrity checks. In our tests, cutting 100 bytes off the end of a .tar.xz and changing a single byte in the middle both stopped the conversion with a “damaged or incomplete” message and no ZIP.
- Reads every TAR dialect and keeps the Unix details. ustar, pax and GNU long names come through whole. Folders (empty ones too), dates, permissions and symbolic links go into the ZIP, hard links become copies, and device files and pipes are listed in the summary. Uncompressed tarballs have their own TAR to ZIP converter.
- Explains the memory limit. Files over 2 GB are refused, but that check is on the .tar.xz itself. Because xz compresses so well, a modest download can unpack to far more than its size, and if the contents do not fit in the tab’s memory you get a message instead of a ZIP.
Every format the engine reads is listed on the home page, and the other free browser tools are a click away.
How to convert TAR.XZ to ZIP, step by step
Add the .tar.xz file
Drag it onto the box labelled “Drop TAR.XZ files here or click to browse”, or click the box and choose the file. The converter identifies it from the xz signature and starts fetching its engine, about 1 MB, when the first archive is added.
Leave “Convert to” on ZIP
A “Convert to” menu appears under the file list with ZIP selected; it also offers TAR, TAR.GZ and GZIP (single file). Tick “Keep macOS metadata files” only if you need them.
Press Convert to ZIP
The row shows a progress bar. Large xz archives take a while to unpack, and a bare .xz file with no tarball inside gets a red message instead.
Download the ZIP
Click the button labelled with the new file name, such as docs-2.3.zip. The note underneath counts files, folders and links and lists any entry that was renamed, skipped or cleaned.
Who can use it
- Windows 10 users and anyone without xz-utils. You can open a .tar.xz without installing a command-line tool.
- People downloading source or data from a Linux project. Turn a .tar.xz release into a ZIP your file manager opens.
- Maintainers sharing a source tree. Send a Windows-based contributor a ZIP; the ZIP to TAR.GZ converter covers the return trip.
- Anyone who prefers local processing. The tarball is unpacked on your own device and never uploaded.
FAQs
How do I open a .tar.xz file on Windows?
Drag the .tar.xz onto the converter on this page, keep ZIP selected and press Convert to ZIP, then open the ZIP in File Explorer. As of October 2026, Windows 11 can also open .tar.xz itself, but Windows 10’s File Explorer cannot, and the converter needs no installation on either.
Why is the ZIP so much bigger than the .tar.xz?
xz compresses the whole tarball as one stream with a large dictionary, which finds far more redundancy than ZIP’s file-by-file Deflate. The ZIP holds exactly the same data. In our test the react-dom 18.3.1 package was 380 KB as .tar.xz and 1.15 MB as ZIP. The ZIP is bigger because it uses compression every system opens without extra software.
Can it open a plain .xz file that is not a tarball?
No. The engine reads xz-compressed tarballs but cannot unwrap a bare .xz stream that holds a single file, such as data.csv.xz. You see a message saying no TAR archive could be read inside the compressed file, and nothing is written. Decompress such a file with xz, 7-Zip or Keka instead.
Is .txz the same as .tar.xz?
Yes. Both names mean a TAR archive compressed with xz, and .txz is the short form. The converter identifies the format from the file’s contents, so either name works, and so does a tarball whose extension was changed. The ZIP it writes is named after the file without the .tar.xz or .txz ending.
Can I convert TAR.XZ to ZIP without uploading it?
Yes, and that is how this page works. The converter runs in your browser: it fetches its own engine files from zipconvert.com when you add the first file, then unpacks your tarball in the tab. Use the Network tab in DevTools during a conversion to verify that no request contains your archive.
How large a .tar.xz can I convert?
Files up to 2 GB are accepted, with a warning above 1 GB. The limit that matters is memory: the unpacked contents must fit in the tab together with the archive. A .tar.xz can expand a long way, so a large one may stop with a memory message. Try a smaller archive or close other tabs.
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