TAR
TAR archive formatUsed for packaging files and folder structures.
- Family
- Archives
- MIME
- application/x-tar
To convert TAR to 7Z, upload the TAR file, start the conversion and download the result: Converter.now writes a 7Z archive. Files and folders are unpacked and repacked into 7Z; the files inside are not changed.
Unpacking TAR exposes its entries, and a new 7Z package is built from their filenames and folder paths. Compression gets rebuilt from scratch, and archive-level encryption, comments, or recovery records should never be assumed to carry over. TAR is read as a sequential member stream whose path, permission, link, owner, and timestamp records are separate from any outer compression layer. The 7Z package can use solid compression and encrypted headers, trading excellent ratios for extractor compatibility and slower access to individual members.
Read structure - An uncompressed archive preserving a Unix-style folder tree, names, and file metadata. Rebuilt structure - A compressed archive with strong ratios and optional AES encryption.
Not quite the pair you need? Browse more ways to convert TAR files or the 7Z converter hub for every route into and out of 7Z.
Background reading: lossy vs. lossless compression covers why repeated lossy saves compound damage.
Used for packaging files and folder structures.
Designed for compressed storage for a group of files and folders.
List and extract the archive, then compare paths, link targets, permissions, and file counts.
Extract the result with the recipient's actual archive app and compare the complete folder tree.
TAR alone may be large, and permissions, symbolic links, or path conventions can behave differently off Unix.
Some built-in operating-system extractors cannot open 7Z packages, and encrypted headers can hide filenames.
a compressed archive with strong ratios and optional AES encryption is what gets written, labeled as application/x-7z-compressed. Whether that actually opens depends on the receiving application, not on the file extension.
Use 7Z when the recipient's archive utility cannot reliably open TAR, then validate the extracted tree rather than judging only the new package size.