tar

Windows CMD · Files · reference only

What it does

Creates and extracts archives (.tar, .tar.gz, .zip). It ships with Windows 10 and 11, based on bsdtar.

Syntax

tar [opciones] [fichero...]

Options and parameters

• -c

  Creates a new archive.

• -x

  Extracts the content of an archive.

• -t

  Lists the content without extracting it.

• -f archivo

  Name of the archive being worked with.

• -z

  Compresses or decompresses with gzip.

• -v

  Shows files as they are processed.

• -C directorio

  Changes to that directory before extracting or creating.

• -a

  Chooses the compression format from the extension, including zip.

Usage examples

• tar -cvf copia.tar carpeta

  Packs a folder into copia.tar without compressing.

• tar -czf copia.tar.gz carpeta

  Packs and compresses with gzip.

• tar -xvf copia.tar -C destino

  Extracts the archive into the destino folder.

• tar -a -cf copia.zip carpeta

  Creates a zip file from a folder.

Notes and common mistakes

• When extracting, files that already exist are overwritten without asking.
• The -C destination folder must exist.

Related commands

• assoc
• attrib
• cipher
• compact
• copy
• del