If you’ve ever downloaded a file from the internet or received one via email, chances are it was in this format. But what exactly is a .gz file? And why would we want to use it instead of just leaving our files as they are? Well, let me tell ya!

It stands for GNU zip (or compress), which is an open-source software tool used for data compression and decompression. The .gz extension simply indicates that a file has been compressed using this program. So, if you see a file named myfile.txt.gz in your downloads folder, it means that the original text document (myfile.txt) has been shrunk down to save space on your hard drive or make it easier to send over email.

Now, how to compress and extract files using gzip. To compress a file, simply add .gz to the end of its name. For example: myfile.txt becomes myfile.txt.gz. This will automatically run the gzip program on that file and create a compressed version for you.

But what if you want to compress multiple files at once? No problem! Just use the tar command (which stands for tape archive) followed by the gzip option (-z). For example:

tar -czvf myfiles.tgz myfile1.txt myfile2.txt

This will create a compressed archive of both myfile1.txt and myfile2.txt, which can be easily transferred or stored on your hard drive.

Now extracting files using gzip. To do this, simply use the gunzip command followed by the name of the file you want to decompress (without the .gz extension). For example:

gunzip myfile.txt.gz

This will remove the compression from myfile.txt.gz and create a new version called myfile.txt in your current directory. If you’re extracting multiple files at once, simply use tar followed by gunzip (just like we did with compressing). For example:

tar -xzvf myfiles.tgz

This will decompress all of the files inside myfiles.tgz and create new versions in your current directory without the .gz extension.

And that’s it! Compressing and extracting files using gzip is a simple process that can save you time, space, and bandwidth. So next time you need to send a large file over email or store some data on your hard drive, give it a try!