Compressed Files
WHAT IS A COMPRESSED FILE?
A compressed file is a file format which uses a number of different compression techniques and algorithms to consume less disk space on a computer system. There are several compression archival formats which allow one file to act as a compressed container for a group of files.
There are two types of compression algorithms — lossless compression and lossy compression. In lossy compression, some data is lost in the process of compression and cannot be recovered, while lossless compression keeps everything intact and allows for full data recovery. However, lossy compression has the advantage of creating files that are significantly smaller in size than its lossless counterpart.
HOW ARE COMPRESSED FILES USED?
Compression is useful when it comes to reducing the file size of the source data. Compressed files are commonly used by archive creation software (eg. WinZip, 7Zip, etc.) or backup software to compress multiple files into a smaller package (typically for sharing large files over the internet).
Search File Types
What Are Popular Compressed Files Extensions?
| ZIP The ZIP file format is used to store one or more files (or even folders) in a compressed, archival format. One of the most popular compressed formats, it supports multiple compression algorithms and can partially extract some of the files without compressing / decompressing all of the files in the archive. | |
| RAR The RAR file format can be used to store one or more files in a compressed format using RAR's proprietary compression algorithm. It supports better data compression than the ZIP format. | |
| GZ The GZ or GNU Zip Archive format is used to store one or more files in a compressed format. Files are first placed in a TAR archive and then compressed using GZIP, a file compression software. Files compressed in the format are known as tarballs. | |
| 7Z The 7Z or 7Zip file format is an open, compressed archive file format with support for multiple encryption, pre-processing, and data compression algorithms. These algorithms include:
Each 7Z file format specification includes 7-ZIP's source code. | |
| PKG The macOS Installer Package file (PKG) format is used to store installer files in a compressed format. A PKG file can be used to install a software on Apple's macOS (formerly known as 'Max OS X') operating system. |
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