Open .gz Files Online

How to open a .gz file online (free)

1. Drop your .gz file onto the box above, or click to choose it.
2. The file inside is listed under its original name — access.log.gz shows up as access.log. Click it to preview the contents.
3. Download the decompressed file. It is only decompressed at that point, not before.

Just gunzip, in the browser

A plain .gz holds a single compressed file — most often a server log, a database dump (.sql.gz), a JSON or CSV export. On the command line you’d run gunzip or gzip -d; here you drop the file and get the original back. Text files can be read in the built-in preview without downloading anything, which is often all you need for a log.

Decompression runs on your device with WebAssembly, so a dump full of customer data or a production log is never sent anywhere.

.gz is not the same as .tar.gz

A .tar.gz or .tgz is a whole bundle of files, not one. You can drop it here as well: it is recognised and opened as a folder tree, the same as on the tar.gz extractor page.

Other single compressed files

Single files compressed as .bz2, .xz, .zst, .lz4, .lzma, .Z and .br (Brotli) open the same way. Brotli is the one exception on size: a .br file is decompressed in memory, so keep those to a few hundred megabytes. The others are written to your browser’s temporary storage on disk and have no fixed cap.

Frequently asked questions

What is a .gz file?

A .gz file is a single file compressed with gzip — commonly a log, database dump (.sql.gz), JSON export (.json.gz) or CSV. Unlike a .tar.gz, it holds just one file, not a bundle.

How do I open a .gz file without the command line?

Drop it on this page. You can preview the decompressed contents or download the original file — for example access.log.gz gives you access.log. No gunzip, no terminal, no install.

What is the difference between .gz and .tar.gz?

A plain .gz compresses one single file. A .tar.gz first bundles many files into a tar, then gzips that bundle. Both open here; a .tar.gz is shown as a folder tree.

Are my files uploaded to a server?

No. Everything runs locally in your browser with WebAssembly. Your files never leave your device, and the page keeps working offline once it has loaded.

Does it also open .xz, .zst and .bz2 files?

Yes. Single-file .xz, .zst, .bz2, .lz4, .lzma, .Z and .br (Brotli) files are decompressed the same way.

Is there a size limit?

There is no fixed cap for .gz. The decompressed file is written to your browser’s temporary storage on disk, so the practical limit is the free space there. Brotli (.br) files are the exception: they are decompressed in memory and should stay within a few hundred megabytes.