TAR file format
| Extension | .tar |
| Category | archives |
| Programs | Apple Archive Utility GNU Tar StuffIt WinZip |
| Description | Originally designed for tape backup in the UNIX environment, the TAR format is now commonly used to consolidate multiple files into a single archive for sharing, storage, or archiving. TAR can also refer to the application used to manage TAR archives. |
| Technical details | A TAR archive is a collection of files merged into a single entity, typically without automatic compression. Applications like gzip can be used to compress the entire TAR file. As a result, if compression is applied, the file extension shifts from .tar to .tar.gz. However, the suffix relies on the compression type used. TAR archives consist of approximately 512 bytes and a file header. |
| MIME type | application/tar application/x-tar applicaton/x-gtar multipart/x-tar application/x-compress application/x-compressed |