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gzip Cheatsheet

Von [email protected] 01.03.2026 Loading...

Core command forms for gzip and gunzip.

Command	Description
`gzip FILE`	Compress a file and replace it with `FILE.gz`
`gzip -k FILE`	Compress and keep original file
`gzip -d FILE.gz`	Decompress a `.gz` file
`gunzip FILE.gz`	Decompress a `.gz` file
`zcat FILE.gz`	Print decompressed content to stdout

Control speed versus compression ratio.

Command	Description
`gzip -1 FILE`	Fastest compression, larger output
`gzip -6 FILE`	Default compression level
`gzip -9 FILE`	Maximum compression, slower
`gzip -k -9 FILE`	Max compression while keeping original

Apply gzip to groups of files.

Command	Description
`gzip *.log`	Compress all matching log files
`gzip -r logs/`	Recursively compress files in a directory
`find . -name '*.txt' -print0 \| xargs -0 gzip`	Compress matching files safely
`for f in *.csv; do gzip -k "$f"; done`	Compress files and keep originals
`gzip -- *.txt`	Compress files, safe for dash-prefixed names

Restore and verify compressed files.

Command	Description
`gunzip archive.gz`	Decompress and remove `.gz` file
`gzip -dk archive.gz`	Decompress and keep `.gz` file
`gzip -l archive.gz`	Show compressed/uncompressed sizes
`gzip -v FILE`	Show compression ratio and details
`gzip -t archive.gz`	Test integrity without extracting
`zcat archive.gz \| less`	View content without writing files

Use gzip without intermediate files.

Command	Description
`mysqldump mydb \| gzip > mydb.sql.gz`	Compress command output directly
`gzip -c file.txt > file.txt.gz`	Write compressed output to stdout
`gunzip -c backup.sql.gz > backup.sql`	Decompress to a chosen file
`tar -cf - project/ \| gzip > project.tar.gz`	Create compressed tar stream
`gzip -dc access.log.gz \| grep ERROR`	Search content in compressed logs

Quick checks for common gzip issues.

Issue	Check
`gzip: command not found`	Install `gzip` package and verify with `gzip --version`
Original file disappeared after compression	Use `-k` to keep source files
`not in gzip format`	Confirm file type with `file filename` before decompression
Corrupt archive errors	Run `gzip -t file.gz` to validate integrity
Unexpected overwrite behavior	Use `-k` or output redirection with `-c` to control file writes

Use these guides for full workflows and archive handling.

Guide	Description
gzip Command in Linux	Full `gzip` tutorial with examples
gunzip Command in Linux	Decompress `.gz` files in detail
How to Create Tar Gz File	Build compressed tar archives
Tar Command in Linux	Create and extract tar archives
Find Large Files in Linux	Locate files before compression cleanup

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