Extract cpio archives.
Unpack cpio archives in your browser — nothing uploaded.
Drop cpio archives here
or browse your files
Paste with ⌘V · or drop files anywhere on the page
Files never leave your device. Everything runs in your browser, nothing touches a server — tools you've used even work offline.
cpio is tar’s older sibling — still underneath rpm packages, initramfs images and plenty of unix backup scripts. Drop a .cpio (or a .cpio.gz) here and its files extract right in the browser, no pipe incantations required.
How it works
- Drop files anywhere on the page, click to browse, or paste with ⌘V.
- Pick a quality or preset — or set an exact target size and let the tool find it.
- Compress, compare before/after, and download — individually or as a ZIP.
The pipeline, without the pipes
The terminal recipe — gunzip | cpio -idmv — assumes a shell, the right flags and some scar tissue. Dropping the file here is the flat-pack version. Related plumbing: rpm packages unwrap to cpio automatically, and tarballs get the same treatment on their side of the family.
Frequently asked questions
Where would I even meet a cpio file?
Inside rpm packages (their payload is cpio), Linux initramfs/initrd images, some firmware update bundles and old-school backup scripts. When one surfaces, this page opens it without remembering cpio flag soup.
Which cpio variants are readable?
The common ones — newc/SVR4 (what rpm and initramfs use) and the classic formats. Compressed variants like .cpio.gz unwrap their compression layer automatically first.
Why does the unix world have both tar and cpio?
History — they solved the same problem in different 1970s corners. tar won the human-facing war; cpio survives embedded in formats that picked it decades ago and never needed to change.
Is it private?
Yes. The archive is opened and unpacked on your own device — its contents are never uploaded, and a password, if one is needed, is used locally and never transmitted. The server does nothing but deliver this page. Want proof? Run one file through, switch your connection off, and run another — it still works.