.bz2 files
.bz2 file
Bzip2 Compressed File
A compressed single file, slower than gzip but usually smaller.
What opens a .bz2 file
- Windows
- File Explorer (built in, Windows 11), 7-Zip, WinRAR
- macOS
- Archive Utility (built in), Keka, bunzip2 (Terminal)
- Linux
- Archive Manager / File Roller (built in), Ark, bunzip2
What a .bz2 file is
Bzip2 uses the Burrows-Wheeler transform to squeeze harder than gzip at the cost of speed, and like gzip it compresses one file only, so it normally appears as .tar.bz2. Its use has faded in favour of xz and zstd, but it is still common in older Linux source archives. Windows 11 File Explorer, 7-Zip, Keka and every Linux archive manager handle it.
Converting it
A .bz2 file is commonly converted to .zip, .7z, .gz or .xz. It is a binary format, so a text editor will show unreadable characters rather than its contents.
Details
- Extension
- .bz2
- Full name
- Bzip2 Compressed File
- Category
- Archives
- MIME type
- application/x-bzip2
- Created by
- Julian Seward
- Format
- Binary
Common questions
- How do I open a .bz2 file?
- On Windows use File Explorer (built in, Windows 11); on macOS use Archive Utility (built in); on Linux use Archive Manager / File Roller (built in). A compressed single file, slower than gzip but usually smaller.
- What is a .bz2 file?
- Bzip2 Compressed File. Bzip2 uses the Burrows-Wheeler transform to squeeze harder than gzip at the cost of speed, and like gzip it compresses one file only, so it normally appears as .tar.bz2. Its use has faded in favour of xz and zstd, but it is still common in older Linux source archives.
- Can I convert a .bz2 file?
- Yes. It is usually converted to .zip, .7z, .gz or .xz, either by exporting from one of the programs listed above or with a format converter.
Related pages
- .zip — ZIP Archive The universal compressed folder — every operating system opens one with no extra
- .rar — RAR Archive A proprietary archive format with better compression than ZIP and strong recover
- .7z — 7-Zip Archive The open, high-compression archive format from 7-Zip, with proper AES-256 encryp
- .gz — Gzip Compressed File A single compressed file — it holds no folder structure of its own.
- .tar — Tape Archive A Unix bundle of files with no compression at all — usually paired with gzip.
- .tgz — Gzipped Tar Archive Shorthand for .tar.gz — a tar bundle compressed with gzip.
- .xz — XZ Compressed File LZMA2 compression — the tightest of the common Unix single-file compressors.
- .sfx — Self-Extracting Archive Module The stub program archivers glue onto an archive to make it extract itself.
Sources
- Media Types Registry — IANA
- Official vendor product documentation — At One Place