TAR to 7Z Converter
Convert TAR to 7Z online for free. Fast, secure archive conversion that preserves folder structure and file integrity. No software installation required.
Max file size 10MB. Sign up for more.
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Checking files and selected output formats.
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Convert TAR Archives in 3 Steps
Repackage archived files for better compatibility, compression, or extraction support without installing desktop archive software.
Drag and drop your .tar file into the converter above, or click "Choose Files" to browse your device.
Click "Convert All" and our server re-packs your files from TAR into 7Z format while preserving the complete folder structure.
Your converted .7z archive is ready instantly. Click Download to save it to your device.
Why Convert TAR to 7Z
7z with LZMA2 compression produces significantly smaller archives than ZIP, RAR, or any other mainstream format. Large file collections can be compressed 30-70% more than ZIP achieves.
7z encrypts both file contents and filenames with AES-256 encryption. Even the names of archived files are hidden from anyone without the password, providing stronger security than ZIP encryption.
7z supports solid compression that treats multiple files as a single data stream. Archiving many similar files — like source code or documents — produces dramatically smaller archives with solid mode.
7z is a completely open format with free tools available on every platform. There are no licensing fees or proprietary restrictions. 7-Zip, PeaZip, and Keka all handle 7z files for free.
7z archives can be split into multiple volumes of a specified size. Split a 10 GB archive into 2 GB chunks for uploading to file size-limited services or burning to multiple discs.
TAR vs 7Z: Side-by-side
Technical comparison of the two formats — useful for deciding which to use, or for confirming what changes during conversion.
| Property | TAR | 7Z |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Tape Archive | 7-Zip Archive |
| Year introduced | 1979 | 1999 |
| Developer / standard body | AT&T Unix | Igor Pavlov |
| MIME type | application/x-tar | application/x-7z-compressed |
| File extension | .tar | .7z |
| Compression | None (often paired with gzip → .tar.gz) | LZMA / LZMA2 (best ratio of common formats) |
| Color / data depth | N/A | N/A |
| Max dimensions / size | 8 EB file size | 16 EB file size |
| Transparency | No | No |
| Animation | No | No |
| Standard / specification | POSIX / IEEE 1003.1 | 7-Zip (open) |
| Best for | Unix / Linux backups, source-code distribution | Maximum compression — typically 30–50% smaller than ZIP |
About the TAR Format
TAR (Tape Archive) is a Unix file archiving format created in 1979 for writing data to sequential tape drives. Unlike ZIP or 7Z, TAR does not compress files on its own — it simply bundles multiple files and directories into a single archive while preserving Unix file permissions, ownership, timestamps, and symbolic links. This makes TAR the standard choice for software distribution and system backups on Linux and macOS.
TAR is almost always paired with a compression tool: TAR.GZ (gzip) is the most common combination, offering good speed and reasonable compression. TAR.BZ2 (bzip2) achieves better compression at the cost of slower processing, while TAR.XZ (xz/LZMA2) produces the smallest archives. Because TAR preserves the full Unix filesystem metadata that ZIP discards, it remains essential for packaging source code, deploying server configurations, and creating system images where file permissions must survive the round trip.