How to open a tar file on Windows
A TAR file (.tar) is a special file that contains a collection of multiple files combined into one
single file. SeaBASS data orders are delivered as a single TAR file which consists of all the
different data files, documentation, and related associated files. After you finish downloading
the file, you can open it and unpack the tar contents to recreate the file and folder structure as
the data were archived in SeaBASS.
TAR files are common on Linux and Mac systems but can also be opened on Windows systems.
There are two different approaches for extracting .tar files described below. By default,
Windows does not recognize how to open .tar files if you double click them, but this can be
solved by downloading a 3rd-party program. Alternately, Windows 10 comes with ability to
unpack .tar files from the built-in command prompt.
1) Open TAR file using Command Prompt
1. Type%cmd%in%Windows%search%and%select%Command%Prompt
2. Navigate to the location of your tar file using the cd command. For example, the
following command might be appropriate if the .tar file is in the polarbear user’s
Desktop:
3. Run the following tar command (replace requested_files_1.tar with your exact file
name, if it is named differently):
tar -xf requested_files_1.tar
4. Your TAR file will be extracted into a new folder in the same location
2) Open TAR file using a third-party solution