How to Open GZ, TGZ and TAR.GZ Files on iPhone

Gzip compresses a byte stream rather than storing a directory by itself. A standalone report.log.gz normally produces one file; backup.tar.gz and its .tgz shorthand contain a TAR archive inside the gzip stream. Fileso inspects the decoded payload and opens the inner TAR when present.

Extract .gz, .tgz in Fileso

1. Save the compressed file in Fileso with its full filename and extension.
2. Tap it and choose Extract. Use Extract to Folder if you need a different destination; View prepares a temporary extracted copy for inspection.
3. Wait for decoding to finish. A simple compressed stream may produce one file, while an inner TAR or CPIO produces multiple entries.
4. Open a resulting file and check its size and type before discarding the compressed source.

Keep the full filename when importing the download. In View, a TAR inside gzip appears as its member files, while a single compressed log appears as one output. Choose Extract to Folder for a large backup and check that the expected directory tree appears.

If extraction fails

If you receive only a .gz result when expecting many folders, confirm that the sender actually compressed a TAR archive. A corrupted gzip checksum or an incomplete download can also stop extraction. Renaming file.gz to file.tar.gz cannot add a missing TAR layer.

Common question

Why does a GZ file extract to only one file? Gzip compresses one stream. Multiple files require an archive such as TAR inside that stream.

Read: How to Extract TAR Files on iPhone.