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XZ Decompressor

Information about XZ/LZMA decompression and available tools.

Select XZ File

Limited Browser Support:
XZ/LZMA decompression in browsers is currently not fully supported due to complexity and performance considerations. JavaScript implementations exist but may be slow for large files.

Recommended Tools:
  • Linux/Mac: Built-in unxz or xz -d filename.xz command
  • Windows: 7-Zip (supports XZ extraction)
  • All Platforms: XZ Utils official tools
Privacy: All processing would happen in your browser. No files are uploaded to any server.

About XZ Format

XZ is a lossless compression format based on the LZMA algorithm. It provides excellent compression ratios, often better than GZIP and BZIP2, though it's slower to compress.

XZ Characteristics

  • Excellent Compression: Often 30% better than GZIP
  • Slow Compression: Takes significantly longer than GZIP/BZIP2
  • Fast Decompression: Decompression speed is reasonable
  • Widespread Use: Common in Linux distributions for software packages

Common Use Cases

  • Linux Packages: Many .tar.xz archives for Linux software
  • Kernel Archives: Linux kernel often distributed as .tar.xz
  • Long-term Archives: When maximum compression is desired

Why Browser Support is Limited

  • Complexity: LZMA algorithm is computationally intensive
  • Performance: JavaScript implementation would be very slow
  • Memory Usage: Can require significant RAM for large files
  • Better Alternatives: Native tools are much faster and more efficient

Compression Format Comparison

Format Compression Ratio Speed Browser Support
GZIP Good Fast Full Support
BZIP2 Better Moderate Full Support
XZ Best Slow Limited
ZIP Good Fast Full Support

Fully Supported Compression Tools

We offer full browser-based support for these formats:


How to Extract XZ Files

Linux/Mac Terminal

# Extract .xz file
unxz filename.xz

# Or using xz command
xz -d filename.xz

# Extract .tar.xz archive
tar -xJf filename.tar.xz

Windows

  • Download and install 7-Zip
  • Right-click the .xz file
  • Select "7-Zip" → "Extract Here"

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