Convert Archive to ZIP

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Click to upload or drag and drop

Archive files only: 7Z, TAR, TAR.GZ (Max 10MB)

ℹī¸ How it works:
  • Upload your archive file (7Z, TAR, TAR.GZ)
  • It's converted to a universal ZIP
  • Download the converted ZIP file

Convert an Archive to ZIP — Open a 7Z, TAR, or TAR.GZ Anywhere

Most people arrive here with the same problem: somebody sent a file ending in .7z, .tar or .tar.gz, and double-clicking it does nothing useful. Change the archive to ZIP and that stops being a problem — Windows, macOS and Linux all open a ZIP on their own, with nothing to install. Upload the archive, and the tool unpacks it and repackages the very same files and folders as a ZIP. No sign-up and no watermarks.

How to Convert an Archive to ZIP

  1. Click the upload area above or drag and drop your archive (up to 10 MB).
  2. The tool reads what is inside and repackages it as a ZIP, folder structure and all.
  3. Download the ZIP and open it by double-clicking, like any other folder.

Why Won't My Computer Open a 7Z, TAR or TAR.GZ?

Because Windows and macOS only understand ZIP out of the box. Everything else needs a program installed first, and these three formats come from different worlds.

7Z is the format of the 7-Zip program. It squeezes files harder than ZIP does, which is why people who care about size use it — but nothing on a stock Windows or Mac knows how to read it, so it lands as a file with a blank icon.

TAR comes from Unix, and the name is short for tape archive, which tells you how old it is. A TAR does not compress anything at all; it only glues many files into one, keeping their names and folders in order. That is why you almost never see a plain .tar in the wild — it is usually .tar.gz (also written .tgz), meaning the files were glued together with tar and then squeezed with gzip. Two steps, two extensions, one file.

ZIP does both jobs in one and, more to the point, every operating system already speaks it. Converting to ZIP is not about making the archive better — it is about making it openable by whoever you hand it to.

Which Archives Can I Convert?

  • 7Z → ZIP – open a 7-Zip archive without installing 7-Zip
  • TAR → ZIP – turn a Unix tape archive into something Windows opens
  • TAR.GZ → ZIP – the usual Linux download, made readable on any machine
  • TGZ → ZIP – the same thing as .tar.gz, written shorter

The output is always a ZIP. RAR is not supported — see the questions below for what to do with one.

When You Might Need This

  • A colleague or a client sent a 7Z and you would rather not install software to read it
  • Something downloaded from a Linux or open-source project arrived as .tar.gz
  • A site, a form or an email service accepts ZIP attachments and nothing else
  • Passing files on to someone non-technical who will just double-click whatever you send
  • Working on a locked-down or work computer where you cannot install an extractor
  • Using a phone or a tablet, where archive apps are more trouble than they are worth
  • Putting an archive somewhere it needs to be readable by anyone who finds it

Frequently Asked Questions

No. The files, folders, and their contents stay exactly the same — only the outer archive format changes to ZIP. The folder structure inside is preserved.

You can upload 7Z, TAR, TAR.GZ and TGZ archives, and the tool converts them to ZIP. The output is always a ZIP file.

Yes. Uploaded archives are screened for unsafe entries — path-traversal names and escaping symlinks are rejected — before anything is repackaged.

Upload it here and download the ZIP that comes back. Windows and macOS both open a ZIP by double-clicking, so once it has been converted there is nothing left to install. The usual alternative is installing 7-Zip on Windows or The Unarchiver on a Mac — fine if the machine is yours, less helpful on a work computer that will not let you install software.

Convert it to ZIP here, then open it like any other folder. A .tar.gz is really two wrappers stacked — gzip around a tar — which is why some extractors make you unpack it twice and leave you with a .tar in between. The ZIP you get back is a single layer with the same files and folders in it, so it opens in one step.

Not here — this tool handles 7Z, TAR, TAR.GZ and TGZ. RAR is a closed format owned by the makers of WinRAR, and unpacking one needs their own code, which is why free tools so often leave it out. If you have a RAR, extract it with WinRAR or 7-Zip on your own machine and then re-compress the folder as a ZIP, which Windows can do from the right-click menu under Send to → Compressed (zipped) folder.

Coming from a 7Z, usually yes — and that is expected rather than a fault. 7-Zip compresses harder than ZIP does, so the same contents repacked as a ZIP take up more room. You are trading a little size for a file that opens everywhere. Coming from a plain TAR, the opposite happens: a TAR is not compressed at all, so the ZIP normally comes out smaller.

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