Pick one mode #
| Option | Meaning |
|---|---|
-c | Create a new archive |
-t | List archive contents |
-x | Extract to disk |
-r | Append entries to an existing archive |
-u | Append only entries newer than the archived copy |
files
tar
Create, list and extract tape archives, with or without compression.
Updated
tar bundles files and directories into a single archive and unpacks them again. One mode letter picks the job (c, t, x, r, u) and -f names the archive. The cards were checked against bsdtar; GNU tar accepts the common mode letters, but confirm less common options with tar --help.
Modes
Name the archive #
tar -cf site.tar public/
tar -tf site.tar
tar -cf - public/ | wc -c # archive to stdout
-f - means standard input or output.
Create
Compressed archives #
| Option | Meaning |
|---|---|
-z | gzip (.tar.gz, .tgz) |
-j | bzip2 (.tar.bz2) |
-J | xz (.tar.xz) |
--zstd | zstd (.tar.zst) |
tar -czf notes-2026-10.tgz notes/
Let the suffix decide #
tar -a -cf release.tar.xz build/
-a picks the compression from the archive name.
Archive from another directory #
tar -czf backup.tgz -C /srv/app config data
-C changes directory first, so stored paths start at config/ and data/.
Leave things out #
tar -czf src.tgz --exclude '*.log' --exclude node_modules project/
tar -czf src.tgz --exclude-vcs project/
tar -czf src.tgz -X skip-list.txt project/
--exclude-vcs skips version-control metadata such as .git directories.
Archive a file list #
tar -cf picked.tar -T list.txt
Combine -T with --null when the list is NUL-separated, for example from find -print0.
Inspect and extract
List with details #
tar -tvf site.tar
tar -tzf notes-2026-10.tgz 'notes/2026/*'
Reading auto-detects gzip, bzip2 and xz, so -z is optional when listing or extracting.
Extract #
| Command | Purpose |
|---|---|
tar -xf site.tar | Unpack into the current directory |
tar -xf site.tar -C /tmp/site | Unpack into an existing target directory |
tar -xf site.tar public/index.html | Unpack only named entries |
tar -xOf site.tar public/robots.txt | Print one entry to stdout |
Drop a leading folder #
tar -xzf tool-1.4.0.tgz --strip-components 1 -C ~/opt/tool
Removes the first path element; entries with fewer elements are skipped.
Keep existing files #
tar -xkf site.tar
-k refuses to overwrite files already on disk.
Untrusted archives #
Warning
Extraction overwrites files with the same name. List an unknown archive with -tvf first and extract into an empty directory; never add -P, which keeps absolute paths and .. components.
Variants
Rename while archiving #
Note
tar -cf out.tar -s '/^build/app-1.4/' build/
-s path substitution is a bsdtar option; check your GNU tar manual for its equivalent.
Check your implementation #
tar --version
macOS ships bsdtar (libarchive); most Linux distributions ship GNU tar. Option spellings can differ beyond the basics.