The two most common ways to bundle or transfer files on Linux are zip and tar. zip offers great compatibility with Windows, while tar is the standard on Linux/Unix systems. This guide walks through the compression and extraction commands for both, with examples.
Environment: Ubuntu (applies to all apt-based distributions)
[01] Installing zip / unzip
zip and unzip are not always pre-installed on Ubuntu. Refresh the package list and install them.
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sudo apt update
sudo apt install zip unzip -y
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| Package |
Purpose |
zip |
Compress files/directories into .zip
|
unzip |
Extract .zip files |
tar and gzip ship with most distributions by default, so no separate install is needed.
[02] Compressing with zip
2-1. Compress a Single File
Use the form zip <output> <target>.
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zip archive.zip file.txt
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2-2. Compress Multiple Files/Directories (-r)
To include directories you need the -r option, which recursively captures subfolders. Without -r, the files inside a directory are skipped.
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zip -r archive.zip folder1 folder2 file1.txt
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2-3. Include Hidden Files
Hidden files starting with a dot (.), such as .bashrc, are not matched by ordinary patterns. Add the .[!.]* pattern to include them.
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zip -r archive.zip folder1 folder2 file1.txt .[!.]*
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.[!.]* means “files starting with a dot whose second character is not a dot.” It safely includes hidden files while excluding . (current directory) and .. (parent directory).
| Option |
Description |
-r |
Recursively compress directories and their contents |
-e |
Encrypt the archive with a password |
-1 – -9
|
Compression level (1 = fast, 9 = best compression) |
-q |
Quiet mode (suppress progress messages) |
Use the -d option to set the target path. The directory is created automatically if it does not exist.
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unzip archive.zip -d /path/to/directory/
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| Option |
Description |
-d <path> |
Extract into the specified directory |
-l |
List archive contents without extracting |
-o |
Overwrite existing files without prompting |
-n |
Never overwrite; skip existing files |
[04] tar — gzip vs bzip2
tar bundles multiple files into one archive, and is usually combined with gzip (.tar.gz) or bzip2 (.tar.bz2) to compress as well.
| Aspect |
gzip (.tar.gz) |
bzip2 (.tar.bz2) |
| Compression ratio |
Medium |
High |
| Speed |
Fast |
Slow |
| Output size |
Moderate |
Smaller |
| Notes |
Standard format, great compatibility & speed |
CPU intensive |
In general, tar.gz is preferred for its compatibility and speed. When you need to minimize size and have time to spare, tar.bz2 is the better choice.
5-1. Compress
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tar -czvf archive.tar.gz file1.txt folder1
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# Extract to the current directory
tar -xzvf archive.tar.gz
# Extract to a specific path
tar -xzvf archive.tar.gz -C /path/to/target/
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Just swap the z (gzip) for the j option (bzip2). Everything else stays the same.
6-1. Compress
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tar -cjvf archive.tar.bz2 file1.txt folder1
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# Extract to the current directory
tar -xjvf archive.tar.bz2
# Extract to a specific path
tar -xjvf archive.tar.bz2 -C /opt/data/
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[07] tar Option Reference
| Option |
Meaning |
Description |
c |
create |
Create a new archive (compress) |
x |
extract |
Extract an archive |
t |
list |
List contents without extracting |
z |
gzip |
gzip compress/extract (.tar.gz) |
j |
bzip2 |
bzip2 compress/extract (.tar.bz2) |
v |
verbose |
Print progress to the screen |
f |
file |
Specify the archive filename (always last) |
-C |
change dir |
Set the target directory for extraction |
The f option must come right before the filename (last). While tar -cvzf also works with the order mixed, the conventional form is tar -czvf <filename>.
[08] Summary — When to Use What
| Situation |
Recommendation |
| Exchanging files with Windows |
zip (best compatibility) |
| Backing up/transferring directories between Linux hosts |
tar.gz (standard, fast) |
| Squeezing out maximum size savings |
tar.bz2 (high compression) |
| Bundling just a few files |
zip |
Remember the essentials: use zip -r for multiple files/folders and tar -czvf for directory backups. To extract, just change the c in the compression options to x.
