Extract .TAR.XZ Files Online
(No Size Limits)
Open, view, and unpack source archives securely in your browser tab. 100% safe from data leaks, lightning-fast processing, and optimized for large developer packages.
About Decompression of TAR.XZ
A .tar.xz file is two formats stacked. TAR bundles many files into one without compressing anything, then XZ compresses the bundle using LZMA2. The short form is .txz. Both layers have to come off in that order, which is why a tool that understands only one of them reports a corrupt file.
Why your computer probably cannot open it
| System | Opens it natively | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Windows 11 (23H2 and later) | Yes | Right-click, Extract All |
| Windows 10 | No | Install 7-Zip, or extract on this page |
| macOS (any version) | No | brew install xz, or extract on this page |
| ChromeOS | No | Extract on this page, since nothing is installable |
| Linux | Usually | tar -xf archive.tar.xz |
Why XZ, when Zstandard is faster
XZ buys the smallest file at the cost of everything else. It compresses slowly, decompresses slowly, and wants a lot of memory to do it, but the result is usually meaningfully smaller than gzip or Zstandard can manage. That trade makes sense exactly once: when a file is built one time and downloaded by millions of people, and every megabyte is bandwidth someone pays for. Which is why kernel.org still ships kernel sources as .tar.xz.
| Format | Compression ratio | Decompression speed | Where you meet it |
|---|---|---|---|
| .tar.gz | Moderate | Moderate | Source tarballs, the long-standing default |
| .tar.xz | Highest | Slowest | Kernel sources, distro ISO contents, release downloads |
| .tar.zst | Comparable to gzip, higher at upper levels | Fastest of the three | Arch and Fedora packages, container layers |
Why this one was hard to build
XZ is the format that forced a rebuild of the extraction engine. It routed through the bundled build of libarchive.js, whose only entry point copies the entire archive into the WebAssembly heap before doing anything. That imposed a 300 MB ceiling on a page that advertises no size limits.
The callback API that would allow streaming was compiled into that build but never exported, and every prebuilt libarchive binding published to npm takes the archive as a single Uint8Array. None of them can stream, so none of them could fix it.
So libarchive is now built from source here with both halves exposed. Input arrives through archive_read_set_read_callback and its seek and skip counterparts, answered from a sliding window over the file, so the archive is never resident in memory. Output comes back through archive_read_data_block one chunk at a time and is written straight to disk, so an entry is never fully materialised either. Memory stays flat in both directions and does not depend on how large the archive is.
Doing it from a terminal instead
GNU tar detects XZ automatically, so the compression flag is optional:
tar -xf archive.tar.xzBeing explicit works too, and is clearer in scripts:
tar --xz -xf archive.tar.xzOn macOS you need the tool first, with brew install xz. That install step is the reason this page exists: on a managed laptop, a school Chromebook or a machine you do not administer, you often cannot run it.
What does not work
Multi-volume archives split across several files are not supported, and neither is encrypted 7z. XZ has no encryption layer of its own, so a password-protected .tar.xz is really an encrypted container holding one, and that outer layer has to come off first.
TAR.XZ FAQ
Everything you need to know about how unpk.app processes TAR.XZ locally.
Is it safe to extract TAR.XZ files online with unpk.app?
Yes, extracting TAR.XZ files on unpk.app is completely secure. The entire decompression process runs locally in your browser memory via WebAssembly. Your TAR.XZ archive is never uploaded to a server, keeping your confidential contents entirely private.
Can I unpack large TAR.XZ archives like 5GB or 10GB files?
Yes! There are no artificial file size caps or upload limits for TAR.XZ archives. Since unpk.app extracts TAR.XZ files entirely within your browser using WebAssembly, you are only limited by your device's physical memory (RAM).
Do I need an app like WinRAR or 7-Zip to extract TAR.XZ files?
No software installation or browser extensions are needed to open TAR.XZ files. unpk.app decompresses TAR.XZ archives directly in your browser tab, making it ideal for restricted school Chromebooks or locked-down corporate environments.
Can unpk.app extract password-protected or encrypted TAR.XZ files?
Yes! unpk.app supports unlocking password-protected TAR.XZ archives locally. Since the password prompt and decryption run completely client-side in your browser, your passwords are never sent over the network or stored on any server.
Can I decompress TAR.XZ files on mobile browsers like iOS Safari?
Yes! You can extract and view the contents of TAR.XZ files directly on iOS Safari or Android Chrome. unpk.app runs smoothly on mobile devices, allowing you to open TAR.XZ archives on the go without installing extra apps.
Is there a limit on how many TAR.XZ files I can extract for free?
No. unpk.app offers unlimited, free TAR.XZ file extractions. Because the processing runs locally on your computer rather than our servers, we don't charge any fees or enforce any bandwidth or volume limits.
What other formats can I extract here besides TAR.XZ?
In addition to TAR.XZ, unpk.app supports 9 other formats: ZIP, RAR, 7Z, TAR, GZ, TAR.GZ, XZ, TAR.XZ, BZ2, and ISO. All formats are unpacked entirely locally inside your browser via WebAssembly.