Meta-description: opening a tar.gz file on Mac is easier than before, as you have all the programs you need already integrated. Find out how you can do it by reading this article.
Technology has changed tremendously in the last couple of years and it has evolved considerably. New tools have been developed so that communication and collaboration are done easier. No matter if you are a student or an employee at a company, you surely use technology to collaborate. Especially when your team members are not in the same place as you. You send files and documents via the internet. But even though we have all these tools that help us communicate and send documents, they have limits too.
You are not always allowed to send every file you want, as you have a size limit to follow. However, people are inventive so there are tools that help you compress the files and still send them. Archiving documents is one of the ways to compress the files you have to send, which is of huge help. So, if you have a tar.gz file on your laptop, you might already know: it’s an archive. But when you are on the other side of the line, receiving these archived documents, how do you open them? Do you need a specific program to install to your Mac to do it? Here are five easy steps that will help you.
Finding the Archive
Well, it sounds intuitive, but the first thing you need to do is to find the archive you want to access and open it. On your Mac, you need to use Finder. And if you know the name of the file, it will be easier to find it. It depends on where you have saved it on your laptop. Once you have found it, you may ask yourself how to open gz file on mac, which may seem complicated at the beginning. If you have been a Windows user before having a Mac, you might think you need to install some programs or software that will help you do this. Let’s see what the next step brings.
Opening the File
Once you have found your file, you simply need to go to it and try to open it. As mentioned above, as a Mac user, you do not need to install any software that will help you open the archive. You only need to double-click on it, which will automatically extract the files to your folder. Mac also has the Archive Utility software already integrated, so you can also right-click on the archive and open it with this program. You can then open each file individually with the designated program.
Opening a Terminal on Mac
The above steps are easy to follow. However, if they might not work all the time, there are other options too. You can open a Terminal on your Mac. This is especially handy when you are writing scripts or using SSH on your laptop. How do you do this on your laptop? Well, it is pretty facile. All you have to do is to search for Terminal on your Mac with the search function or go to applications – utilities – terminal.
Use the Cd Command
Well, the next step is to go to your tar.gz directory. If you know where you have saved the file, it will be easier. You only type cd and the place of your file. For example, if your tar.gz file is saved on your desktop, you only type cd desktop. If it is in a folder, you write cd and the folder name. Then, you just press return or enter.
Extracting Files with the Tar Command
The tar command changes slightly depending on the extension of your archive. In your case, the extension is tar.gz, so you will need to type tar – xvzf to extract the files. This will instantly extract the files to the folder where your archive is saved, so you can access them instantly.
Final Thoughts
Everyone has a laptop or computer they use at their work. No matter if you are a student, an employee, or a business owner, you know too well the importance of efficient communication and collaboration. So, when you receive a tar.gz file, you might feel confused about how you can access and extract the files in the archive. There are two ways you can do this, as Mac has already all the programs you need to do it.
