Compress a file as LZMA-Alone or create a tar.lzma archive from multiple files and folders directly in your browser. Read more

What is LZMA-Alone create?

LZMA-Alone is the legacy LZMA1 container: a 13-byte header followed by an LZMA1 stream. It is not XZ, LZIP, or a raw LZMA stream. It compresses a single byte stream and does not store filenames or directory trees. This tool creates .lzma for one file; for multiple files or folders it creates TAR first, then LZMA-Alone-compresses it as .tar.lzma.

How to use this tool

Add files or folders, review their relative archive paths, select preset 0–9, and choose a matching output filename. Use .lzma for a single compressed stream and .tar.lzma when TAR holds multiple entries. Use LZMA-Alone Extract to restore the result.

Output modes

Download (default) keeps the generated result in browser memory and provides a reusable Download button. You can rename the download without recompressing while the content is unchanged.
Save directly to a file writes the archive incrementally to a local file you choose. It uses less peak memory for large outputs, but there is no repeat Download button without creating again. Availability depends on browser support for the File System Access API in a secure context.

Files are still processed locally and are not uploaded.

Choosing the right format

Prefer XZ (.xz / .tar.xz) for new archives when possible: it has stronger container metadata and broader desktop support. .tar.lzma may have weaker desktop integration than .tar.xz. LZMA-Alone remains useful for interoperability with older tools that expect .lzma.

Important limitations

LZMA-Alone and TAR do not encrypt content or paths. LZMA-Alone has limited container metadata and does not include a checksum for verifying the decompressed content. Download mode retains the generated output in memory. Direct Save avoids retaining the complete output, though codec state and bounded chunks still use memory. Use native tools for large folders or when exact Unix metadata must be preserved.

Frequently asked questions

Why can another program not open the result?

Confirm the receiver expects LZMA-Alone (.lzma), not XZ (.xz) or LZIP (.lz). Decompressing .tar.lzma produces a .tar, which then needs TAR extraction.