How to use the Create TAR.GZ
- Add the files that belong in the tarball.
- Enter the archive name and choose a gzip level; Normal suits most jobs.
- Click Create and save the .tar.gz.
Why IT asks for TAR.GZ
Every Linux and macOS system has tar and gzip, including bare server images and containers that ship without unzip. Hosting control panels, deployment pipelines and package tools therefore expect tarballs.
Gzip works on the entire TAR stream rather than file by file, so a folder of many small, similar documents (JSON, CSV, HTML pages) often ends up smaller than the equivalent ZIP.
What the tarball records
Each entry stores the file name, size and modification time. Every entry is owned by user 0 and carries plain read-write permission bits, so if you pack shell scripts the server administrator will need to make them executable again with chmod.
Gzip levels run from Fastest to Ultra, but anything beyond Normal seldom saves more than 2 or 3 percent. Higher settings only pay off on large text archives.
Names inside and outside
With a single input the tarball borrows its name, so ledger.csv becomes ledger.tar.gz. With several inputs the name you typed is used, and every file lands at the top level of the archive.
Inputs that share a name are numbered in brackets, so unpacking on the server never replaces one document with another.
Questions
Is bzip2 or xz compression available here?
No, this page writes gzip tarballs only. If the smallest possible file is the goal, the 7Z creator usually wins.
How does IT unpack it?
tar -xzf archive.tar.gz inside the destination folder; tar -tzf archive.tar.gz lists the contents first without extracting.
Will a Windows colleague be able to open it?
Windows 11 File Explorer reads .tar.gz. On older Windows they need 7-Zip, or they can use the TAR.GZ extractor on this site.