RAR to TZ2 Converter
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Supports: RAR
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Need help?RAR to TZ2 Converter
A .tz2 file is just a .tar.bz2 archive — a tar tarball compressed with bzip2 — under a shorter extension. Converting RAR to TZ2 extracts the contents of your proprietary RAR archive and repacks them into an open tar.bz2 tarball, so the same files open cleanly with tar on Linux, macOS, and modern Windows. The conversion is lossless: your files' bytes are preserved exactly — only the container and compression method change.
RAR Format at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Full name | Roshal Archive |
| Created | March 1993, by Eugene Roshal |
| Algorithm | Proprietary (RAR5 introduced April 2013) |
| Compression | RAR5 dictionary up to 1 GB, optional AES-256 encryption, recovery records |
| License | Proprietary; creating RAR archives requires RARLAB's licensed encoder |
| Extraction support | unrar is freely distributed; 7-Zip 15.06+ and WinRAR extract RAR5; Windows 11 22H2 added native extraction (Oct 2023, KB5031455) |
| Best for | Multi-volume splitting, password-protected archives, recovery records |
TZ2 (tar.bz2) Format at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| What it is | A tar tarball compressed with bzip2 (.tz2 = .tar.bz2 = .tbz2) |
| tar origin | Unix tar archiving format (bundles files, paths, and permissions) |
| bzip2 origin | Released July 18, 1996, by Julian Seward |
| Compression | bzip2 Burrows–Wheeler block compression; block-based, so corruption is contained to affected blocks |
| License | Open / free; no proprietary encoder needed |
| Extraction | tar -xjf file.tz2 on Linux/macOS; 7-Zip or WinRAR on Windows; native in Windows 11 22H2+ |
| Best for | Unix/Linux distribution, source tarballs, preserving file permissions |
How to Convert RAR to TZ2
- Upload Your RAR File: Drag and drop your
.rararchive onto the page or click "+ Add Files" to pick it from your computer. You can queue several archives at once. - Confirm the Output Format: TZ2 is already selected as the target. The tool extracts the RAR and repacks its contents as a bzip2-compressed tar archive.
- Choose Single or Individual Archives: Under the "Combine?" option, pick "Single Archive" to pack everything into one
.tz2, or "Individual Archives" to produce a separate.tz2per uploaded file. - Convert and Download: Click "Convert" and download your
.tz2file. No sign-up, no watermark.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is converting RAR to TZ2 lossless?
Yes. The conversion extracts the files inside your RAR archive and repacks them into a tar.bz2 tarball without re-encoding the data, so every file's contents are bit-for-bit identical. Only the container (tar instead of RAR) and the compression method (bzip2 instead of RAR's proprietary algorithm) change. The final file size will differ because bzip2 and RAR achieve different compression ratios on the same data.
Is a .tz2 file the same as .tar.bz2 and .tbz2?
Yes. .tz2, .tbz2, and .tar.bz2 all refer to the identical thing: a tar archive compressed with bzip2. The short extensions exist because older filesystems and tools preferred a three-letter suffix. Any tool that opens .tar.bz2 will open a .tz2 file once it recognizes the extension.
How do I open or extract a .tz2 file?
On Linux or macOS, run tar -xjf archive.tz2 (the -j flag tells tar to decompress bzip2); recent GNU tar versions also auto-detect compression with tar -xf. On Windows, 7-Zip and WinRAR both open .tz2, and Windows 11 22H2 and later can extract tar.bz2 archives natively through File Explorer.
Why convert RAR to TZ2 instead of keeping the RAR?
RAR's compression algorithm is proprietary, so creating RAR archives requires RARLAB's licensed encoder, and some Unix/Linux toolchains, build pipelines, and package scripts expect open tar-based archives. Repacking to .tz2 gives you a format that any standard tar install handles, preserves Unix file permissions and directory paths, and avoids depending on a proprietary archiver.
Will the .tz2 file be smaller than my RAR?
Not necessarily. RAR5 and bzip2 use different compression engines, so the result can be slightly larger or smaller depending on the data. bzip2 typically compresses better than gzip but RAR's solid compression can edge it out on archives with many similar files. If your priority is the smallest possible archive, compare the output size and pick the format that wins on your specific data.
Does the conversion keep file permissions and folder structure?
Yes. The tar layer inside a .tz2 stores Unix file permissions, ownership flags, symlinks, and the full directory tree, so extracting the converted archive on Linux or macOS restores the same structure the RAR contained. In our testing, a RAR of a nested source tree round-tripped to .tz2 and back with its directory paths and executable bits intact.
Can it convert a password-protected RAR?
No. Encrypted RAR archives must be decrypted with the correct password before their contents can be read, and the converter cannot extract files it can't open. Remove the password in WinRAR or unrar first, then convert the unprotected archive to .tz2.
Are my files private during conversion?
Yes. Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically after a few hours. There's no sign-up, no watermark, and your archives are never shared or made public. If you'd rather keep RAR's own format, see convert RAR to ZIP or convert RAR to 7Z for other archive targets.