Loona TAR File Creator - Make a .tar Archive from Your Files
TAR is still the lingua franca of Linux, servers and backups - but Windows users who need to produce a tarball usually have to install something first. This page writes genuine TAR archives in your browser: proper ustar headers, checksums and timestamps, built on your device with nothing uploaded.
Remember: TAR does not compress. The .tar will be about the size of all the files added together (rounded up to 512-byte blocks). Need it smaller? Run the result through the GZIP Compressor afterwards, or use the ZIP File Creator instead.
How to use the TAR File Creator
- Drop your files onto the box above, or click it and pick files from your device. You can add files in several rounds.
- Check the list - remove anything added by mistake, and watch the total size.
- Optionally type a folder name so every file sits inside one folder in the archive, and give the TAR a name.
- Click Create TAR & Download. The .tar opens with tar on Linux/macOS, and with 7-Zip or WinRAR on Windows.
How it works
A TAR archive is a stream of records: for each file, a 512-byte ustar header block (file name, size in octal, modification time, a checksum of the header itself, the 'ustar' magic, and a prefix field that lets paths run longer than 100 characters - with GNU longname entries for paths beyond even that), followed by the file's contents padded to a whole number of 512-byte blocks. Two zero blocks close the archive. This page implements that format directly - no library, no server - and the writer was verified by having Python's tarfile module read its output back byte-for-byte. TAR stores files uncompressed, so the archive is the sum of its parts; compression is a separate step (that is what .tar.gz adds).
Worked example
You add three files: deploy.sh (1 KB), config.yml (3 KB) and logo.png (48 KB), with the folder name set to 'release'. The tool produces release.tar - or your chosen name - holding a release folder with all three files, each keeping its real modification time. At 52 KB of content the TAR comes out at about 54 KB: the files themselves, three headers and padding, with no compression - exactly what tar would produce on Linux.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this TAR file creator free?
Yes - free, no sign-up, no limits and no watermarks.
Are my files uploaded to a server?
No. The TAR is written by JavaScript running in your browser, on your device. Your files never leave it.
Why is the TAR the same size as my files - or a little bigger?
TAR does not compress anything; it only bundles. Each file also adds a 512-byte header and is padded to a 512-byte boundary, so the archive is slightly larger than the raw total. For a compressed tarball, create the TAR here and then run it through the GZIP Compressor - that is literally how .tar.gz is made.
Will Linux and GNU tar accept archives made here?
Yes. The writer follows the ustar specification - correct octal fields and header checksum, the ustar magic, prefix splitting for long paths and GNU longname entries for very long ones - and its output was verified by reading it back with Python's tarfile module during testing.
Can I add files to an existing TAR or make a .tar.gz directly?
Not in this tool - it creates a fresh archive each time. To turn an existing ZIP into a .tar.gz in one step, use the ZIP to TAR.GZ Converter; to compress this TAR into a .tar.gz, use the GZIP Compressor afterwards and rename the result to .tar.gz.
Related Developer Tools
GZIP Compressor
Compress a single file into a .gz with your browser's built-in gzip engine - great on a fresh TAR.
ZIP File Creator
Make a ZIP from multiple files - add files, name the archive and download one .zip.
TAR to ZIP Converter
Repack a .tar archive as a .zip without uploading it to a server.