Turn GZ files into ZIP
This makes a ZIP out of the GZ you already have. ZIP is the archive every computer opens without installing anything, on Windows, Mac, Linux and phones alike. Worth knowing: a ZIP will not open in a browser tab, so it is a file for software rather than for the web. Your file never leaves your computer.
Need the other direction? Convert ZIP to GZ
How to convert GZ to ZIP
- 1 Drop your GZ .gz or .gzip file onto the page, or click to browse for it.
- 2 Check the options. Nothing is thrown away on the way to ZIP, so there is no quality dial to set.
- 3 Convert. The work happens on your own machine, so how long it takes depends on your computer and the file.
- 4 Download the ZIP, or add more files and do the whole set in one go.
Why convert GZ to ZIP
- Built into Windows, macOS and Linux, so no software has to be installed.
- Any single file can be pulled out without unpacking the rest.
- Backups where individual files may need to be pulled out later.
- GZ: newer compressors make clearly smaller files.
GZ compared with ZIP
How the two formats differ on the things that decide whether a conversion is worth making.
| Property | GZ | ZIP |
|---|---|---|
| File extension | .gz | .zip |
| Multiple pages | No | Yes |
| Colour depth | DEFLATE (LZ77 plus Huffman), CRC32 integrity trailer | DEFLATE per entry, with a central directory at the end |
| Browser support | Every browser | No browser support |
| Introduced | 1992 | 1989 |
| Developed by | Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler | Phil Katz, PKWARE |
Quality and what changes
Both sides are lossless, so every pixel survives the trip intact and converting back returns the same image. What changes is the size and what the file can carry: ZIP compresses the same data with a different algorithm, so the size can move in either direction.
- Browsers will not display a ZIP, so it downloads rather than opening in a tab.
- One ZIP limitation to keep in mind: dated compression: 7z makes noticeably smaller archives.
Questions about GZ to ZIP
Can I open a ZIP in a browser?
No. No mainstream browser renders ZIP natively, so it will download rather than display. That is fine when the file is heading into desktop software or an archive, and a problem if it is going on a web page.
Is my GZ file uploaded anywhere?
No. The whole thing runs inside the browser tab you already have open. Your GZ is read straight from your own disk, converted on your machine and handed back as a ZIP. Nothing is sent anywhere, nothing is stored and there is no account.
Is there a file size limit?
There is no server-side limit because no server sees the file. The real ceiling is your device memory, since the input and the output both have to fit in the tab. A few hundred megabytes is usually fine on a desktop machine and considerably less on a phone.
Can I convert several GZ files at once?
Yes. Add as many as you like and they are processed one after another, then offered as separate ZIP downloads or as a single ZIP. Speed depends on your own processor rather than on a queue.
Does the converter work offline?
Yes, after the page has loaded once. The engine is cached by the browser, so you can disconnect, reload and keep converting. That falls out of doing the work locally rather than being a separate mode you switch on.