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 Video Instructions

Our spokesmonkey Ezriah Zippernowsky has made an instructional video showing how easy it is to extract files online. In the video, Ezriah opens a tar.gz file but works the same with tar.bz2 or tbz2 files!

How to open and extract tar.bz2 file?

  1. To select the tar.bz2 file, you have two options:
    It will start the file extraction and list the contents of the tar.bz2 file once complete.

  2. Click the green "Save" button on the individual files to save to your selected destination folder.
  3. OPTIONAL: Click blue "Preview" button to open directly in the browser. This option only available for some file types.
    Click here to save file to local drive. Some files can be previewed in browser.

How do I save all files into a folder?

Some newer browsers allow the saving of multiple files & folders into a designated target folder in one go. If you wish to extract all files in the TAR.BZ2 archive and maintain existing folder structure, follow the steps the below:
  1. Click on "Save All". If the button is disabled, it means your browser does not support this feature or it is not enabled.

    In Chrome, you can enable it by toggling following setting:
    chrome://flags/#native-file-system-api
    (copy/paste it into your browser address bar)


    Click here to select output folder

  2. Select an empty folder where you wish to extract the files. Please note: If you already have files with the same name, ezyZip WILL OVERWRITE THEM.
  3. After you have selected the folder, the browser will ask for permission to access it. Click on "View files" followed by "Save changes".
  4. It will then commence saving files and subfolders into the target you specified
    Saving files. Please wait...

How do I list all files in TAR.BZ2 file?

If you want to see what's inside the TAR.BZ2 archive without having to extract all the files first, follow the steps below:
  1. Open the TAR.BZ2 file, as per instructions above. It will initially list the contents of the TAR.BZ2 hierarchically, sorted by folders.
  2. Click on "List all files" to see the entire list of files inside the TAR.BZ2 archive.

    List of all files inside tar.bz2 file
  3. Click on "List by folder" to go back to folder view.

    tar.bz2: List by folder

How do I extract tar.bz2 files in Dropbox?

  1. Click on the Dropbox logo () in the tar.bz2 file selector button.

    Select from Dropbox
  2. The Dropbox file chooser will appear. You will need to authorise access to ezyZip the first time.
  3. Once you have selected the tar.bz2 file, it will download it to your browser and show the contents.
  4. To save files to Dropbox, click on "Dropbox" dropdown under the "Save" or "Save All" buttons. You will need to authorise Dropbox for ezyZip the first time you do it.

    Files will be saved in /Apps/ezyZip folder.

    Dropbox: Save

Can I preview the contents of my tar.bz2 archive without extracting them?

Yes, ezyZip offers a specialized archive content previewer feature that allows you to view the contents of certain types of files within your tar.bz2 archives without needing to extract them. This feature supports a range of file types, including images, audio, video, and documents, providing a quick and convenient way to verify or check the contents of these files within your archives. Simply click on the blue "Preview" button.

Is it safe to extract tar.bz2 files using ezyZip?

Yes. ezyZip utilises the processing power of your own computer and browser to complete the task. No file data leaves your browser. Unsure? Turn off your WiFi when completing the uncompression. It will continue to work as no data is uploaded to the internet.

What OS and browser can extract tar.bz2 files?

ezyZip is an online tool that supports any OS that can run a modern browser. We have tested it to work with Windows, MacOS, Linux (e.g. Ubuntu, Mint, Debian), Android, ChromeOS (Chromebook), iOS (iPhone, iPad & iPod Touch).

We are continuously updating the system, so ensure you are using the latest version of one of the popular browsers or their variants. (e.g. Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera).

Please let us know via the feedback form if you have any issues.

What is ezyZip?

ezyZip is a free online utility for opening and extracting tar.bz2 files online in your browser. It supports a myriad of other file formats and conversions.

Unlike other online archive extraction utilities, ezyZip DOES NOT have file size restrictions or require you to upload / download files to a server. It runs locally as a browser app, thus making it much quicker than other online file extractors. This also ensures your privacy will be protected as no file data will leave your browser.

What is a TAR.BZ2 file?

A tar.bz2 is a file format for packaging multiple files and directories into a single file. First the files and directories are archived into a tar file. TAR stands for Tape ARchive and is an ancient format (in computer years!) that was initially utilised for backing up data into magnetic tape. It doesn't actually compress the data.

The tar file is then compressed into a bz2 file, which utilises the Burrows–Wheeler compression algorithm. It does a better job compressing file than older compression formats but is considerably slower.

This method of archiving is commonly used in unix/linux environments to package and distribute software and other files.

A tbz2 is the same file type but with a different file extension.