TAR MIME Type

About Tar archive files

A tar file bundles files without compressing them, which is why it is usually wrapped in gzip (.tar.gz), bzip2, xz or zstd. Tar has no registered MIME type; application/x-tar is universal.

File signature

TAR files start with "ustar" at byte 257. The extension and the type a browser reports for an upload both come from the file name, so check these bytes on the server before trusting a file.

Serve .tar with the right Content-Type

Content-Type: application/x-tar

application/x-tar tar;

AddType application/x-tar .tar

@tar path *.tar
header @tar Content-Type "application/x-tar"

curl -sI https://example.com/file.tar | grep -i '^content-type'
# Content-Type: application/x-tar

Set the type in code

res.set('Content-Type', 'application/x-tar');
// Or make the browser download it:
res.attachment('file.tar');

import mimetypes

mimetypes.add_type('application/x-tar', '.tar')  # if your system doesn't know it
mimetypes.guess_type('file.tar')[0]  # 'application/x-tar'

mime.AddExtensionType(".tar", "application/x-tar")
w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/x-tar")

Accept .tar uploads

<input type="file" accept=".tar,application/x-tar">

The accept attribute only filters the file picker; users can still choose another file. Listing the extension as well as the type matters, because operating systems don’t always report the type you expect.

Related types

• .gz (application/gzip): Gzip file
• .zip (application/zip): ZIP archive
• .7z (application/x-7z-compressed): 7-Zip archive

More archives

.rar . Look up any extension or type with the MIME type lookup.

Sources

• IANA Media Types registry (not listed)
• MDN: Common media types

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Frequently asked questions