TAR
TAR archive
TAR glues files into one stream while preserving Unix permissions, without compressing them. It is nearly always paired with gzip, giving .tar.gz.
Opens in macOS, Linux and recent Windows; 7-Zip elsewhere
TAR converterTAR to TAR.BZ2 converter, without the upload.
Turn TAR archives into TAR.BZ2. It is converted in your browser, so the file never leaves your device.
Drop TAR files here
or choose from your computer paste with Ctrl V
from Photos or Files
Ready · other file types work too0 bytes uploaded, ever
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- On your device · nothing is uploaded
- No account, no email
- Batch and ZIP download
- Free
How to convert TAR to TAR.BZ2
Add your TAR archives
Drop TAR files onto the box above, or click it to choose them. ToAny reads the file's contents to detect the type, so a wrong extension does not matter.
TAR.BZ2 is already chosen
Press Convert. There is nothing else to set. The work happens in this tab.
Download
Save the TAR.BZ2, or download everything as one ZIP if you converted several files.
Why ToAny
Private by construction
The TAR to TAR.BZ2 converter is part of this page and runs inside your browser. Your archives are never sent to ToAny or to anyone else.
No upload, no queue
Nothing has to travel to a server and back, so the conversion starts the moment you press Convert, even on a slow connection.
Free, without an account
No sign-up, no email address and no watermark. Add several files and download them together as a ZIP.
TAR to TAR.BZ2: what to expect
TAR is unfamiliar outside Unix and does not compress anything. TAR.BZ2 is smaller than TAR.GZ for the same files. TAR is at home in bundling files on Unix systems; TAR.BZ2 is the usual choice for source code tarballs and scientific data.
A password-protected archive is refused, since its contents cannot be read without the password.
TAR vs TAR.BZ2
TAR.BZ2
Bzip2-compressed TAR archive
A .tar.bz2 (or .tbz2) is a TAR archive compressed with bzip2. It was the usual choice for source code releases before XZ and is still common in older software and datasets.
Opens in Linux, macOS Terminal, 7-Zip and most archive utilities
TAR.BZ2 converter| TARTAR archive | TAR.BZ2Bzip2-compressed TAR archive | |
|---|---|---|
| Stands for | Tape Archive | bzip2-compressed TAR |
| Type | Archive (no compression) | Compressed archive |
| Compression | None | Lossless (Burrows-Wheeler) |
| Introduced | 1979, by the Unix project at Bell Labs | 1996, by Julian Seward (bzip2) |
| Opens in | macOS, Linux and recent Windows; 7-Zip elsewhere | Linux, macOS Terminal, 7-Zip and most archive utilities |
| Best for | Bundling files on Unix systems | Source code tarballs and scientific data |
| File extension | .tar | .tar.bz2, .tbz2, .tbz, .tb2 |
Questions
Are my archives uploaded anywhere?
No. The TAR to TAR.BZ2 conversion runs inside your browser, on your own phone or computer. The file is not sent to ToAny or to anyone else.
Is anything lost when converting TAR to TAR.BZ2?
No. The files inside are repackaged unchanged.
Can I convert several TAR files at once?
Yes. Add as many as you like, convert them together and download each result or all of them as one ZIP.
How do I convert TAR to TAR.BZ2 on Windows, Mac, iPhone or Android?
The steps are the same everywhere because ToAny runs in the web browser: open this page in a current version of Chrome, Edge, Safari or Firefox, add the TAR file, press Convert and save the TAR.BZ2. There is nothing to install.
Is there a file size limit?
Yes. An archive can be up to 500 MB, unpack to at most 1 GB and hold up to 50,000 files; beyond those limits the page says so. Beyond that the limit is your device's memory, since nothing is uploaded; a computer copes with large files better than a phone.