gzip Command Cheat Sheet

Basic Compression

gzip "path/to/file"

After compression, the original file is removed and file.gz is created.

Compress While Keeping the Original File

gzip -k "path/to/file"

Compress a Directory Recursively

gzip -r "path/to/dir"

Each file inside the directory is compressed individually into .gz files.

Decompress

gzip -d "path/to/file.gz"
# or
gunzip "path/to/file.gz"

gunzip is an alias for gzip -d.

Decompress to a Different File

gzip -cd "path/to/file.gz" > "path/to/file"

-c outputs to stdout, and the redirect specifies the destination.

Specify Compression Level

gzip -1 "path/to/file"   # Fastest, lowest compression
gzip -9 "path/to/file"   # Best compression, slowest

Show Information About a Compressed File

gzip -l "path/to/file.gz"

Displays the original size, compressed size, compression ratio, and filename.

Integrity Check

gzip -t "path/to/file.gz"

No output means the file is valid. If corrupted, an error such as gzip: path/to/file.gz: invalid compressed data--crc error will appear.

Archive and Compress a Directory with tar

# Compress
tar cf - "path/to/dir" | gzip > archive.tar.gz
# or
tar czf archive.tar.gz "path/to/dir"

# Extract
tar xzf archive.tar.gz

Unlike the -r option, this bundles the entire directory structure into a single file.

Comparison with Other Tools