Compression
bunzip2
Decompress bzip2-compressed files (equivalent to bzip2 -d).
Synopsis
syntax
bunzip2 [OPTION]... [FILE]...
Examples
Decompress a bzip2 file
bunzip2 archive.bz2
Decompress keeping the .bz2 file
bunzip2 -k data.bz2
Common options
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
| -k | Keep compressed file |
| -v | Verbose output |
| -f | Force overwrite |
About bunzip2
The `bunzip2` command decompress bzip2-compressed files (equivalent to bzip2 -d). Compression commands reduce file sizes for storage and transfer.
Linux supports multiple compression formats, each with different speed and ratio trade-offs. Understanding these tools is essential for working with archives, backups, log rotation, and software distribution packages.
The command accepts 3 commonly used flags shown above, though the full set of options is available in the man page (`man bunzip2`). The 2 examples on this page cover typical real-world usage patterns that you can copy and adapt for your own workflows.
Related commands
More Compression Commands
Other commands in the Compression category