.GZIP File Extension

Gnu Zipped File

Developer The GNU Project
Popularity
4.2  |  32 Votes
 

What is a GZIP file?

A GZIP file is an archive compressed using GNU zip (gzip) compression. It typically contains a single file, which has been compressed for easier storage and sharing. In many cases, this single file is a .TAR archive (which itself contains several files).

More Information

GZIP file shown in Apple Finder
GZIP file shown in Apple Finder

In 1992, Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler created the gzip utility and file format for use with Unix systems. gzip was packaged with GNU, a collection of free software, and intended to replace previous Unix file compression programs. gzip proved useful enough that is still used today, primarily by Linux and other Unix-like users.

Most commonly, archives created using gzip are saved as .GZ files. However, in rare cases, gzip archives may use the .gzip extension.

NOTE: The GNU Project now maintains gzip and the GZIP format.

How to open a GZIP file

You can open a GZIP file with 7-Zip (Windows), Apple Archive Utility (Mac), B1 Free Archiver (multiplatform), and many other archiving utilities. Before doing so, you may have to change your GZIP file's extension to .gz.

Open and view .GZIP files with File Viewer Plus.Free Download

Programs that open GZIP files

Verified by FileInfo.com

The FileInfo.com team has independently researched the Gnu Zipped file format and Mac, Windows, Linux, and Android apps listed on this page. Our goal is 100% accuracy and we only publish information about file types that we have verified.

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