Archiving

(Lossless, for generic data + file archives)

Archiving only
(many files => 1 file, no compression attempted)


 * AR file format (.a, .lib) -- Unix Archiver (ar) format as used by various compilers/linkers
 * ARC (Internet Archive) (.arc)
 * BagIt
 * Mailbag
 * BAR (Age of Mythology)
 * bar (SunOS 4)
 * CAR (CarComp)
 * cpio (.cpio)
 * DPK
 * FAR (The Sims) (.far)
 * Flash (Micro TECH Systems) (.flh)
 * GRP (Build Engine Group Archive) (.grp)
 * Hamster archive
 * HMM Packfile
 * HRX
 * LBR (.lbr)
 * LBR (Commodore) (.lbr)
 * Lynx archive (Commodore) (.lnx)
 * Mozilla Archive (.mar)
 * pax
 * QFC
 * Quake PAK
 * SAVF
 * SeqBox (.sbx)
 * siva (.siva)
 * Tape Archive (.tar)
 * TPAC (Tim Gordon)
 * VIV (.viv, .big; used in Electronic Arts games)
 * Webarchive (Safari)
 * XMIT

Compression + archiving
(Multiple files => 1 file, makes it smaller. See Compression for formats that compress single files/streams, and Disk Image Formats for formats that capture the low-level structure of a disk)


 * 4Q (.4q)
 * 777
 * 7z (.7z)
 * ACB
 * ACE (.ace)
 * afio
 * Ai Archiver (.ai)
 * AIN (.ain)
 * ALZ (.alz) (ALZip)
 * AMG (AMGC)
 * ar (Haruhiko Okumura)
 * AR7
 * ARC (PC/MS-DOS) (.arc)
 * ARC (Commodore) (.arc)
 * ARC (FreeArc) (.arc)
 * ARC (Internet Archive) (gzipped form: .arc.gz)
 * ArcFS (RISC OS) (.arc)
 * ArcMac
 * ARG
 * ARHANGEL
 * ARI
 * ARJ
 * ARJZ
 * ARQ
 * ARX
 * ASD Archiver
 * Astrotite (.afa)
 * B1
 * B6Z (.b6z)
 * BGA Archive (.bza, .gza)
 * BIX
 * BlakHole (.bh)
 * BLINK (.bli)
 * BOA Constrictor Archiver
 * BRU - (RSX-11M backup)
 * BSArc and BSA
 * Cabinet (.cab)
 * CAR (a SAP archive format; also see SAR)
 * CAR (MylesHi!)
 * CAZIPXP (.caz)
 * CFL (Compressed file library) (.cfl)
 * ChArc (.chz)
 * ChiefLZ (LZA)
 * CMZ
 * CODEC (Telvox)
 * Compact File Set (.cfs)
 * Compact Pro (.cpt)
 * Compressia (.car)
 * CP Shrink (.cpz)
 * CRUSH
 * Disk Archiver (.dar)
 * DGCA (.dgc)
 * Diamond
 * Doom WAD (.wad)
 * DWC (.dwc)
 * Dzip (.dz)
 * Eazel (.eaz)
 * EGG (ALZip) (.egg)
 * ERI
 * ESP
 * Freeze!
 * FTCOMP
 * GCA (.gca)
 * Genus Graphics Library
 * GFSA (.fa)
 * Greenleaf ArchiveLib
 * HA (.ha)
 * HAP
 * HKI (WinHKI) (.hki)
 * HPACK (.hpk)
 * HUF (CP/M)
 * Hyper archive (.hyp)
 * ICE (ICEOWS) (.ice)
 * IMP (.imp)
 * JAR (ARJ Software) (.j)
 * JARCS (.jar)
 * JRchive (.jrc)
 * KGB Archiver (.kgb)
 * Konqueror web archive (.war)
 * LArc (.lzs)
 * LHA (.lzh, .lha)
 * LHARK
 * LHice
 * LIMIT (.lim)
 * LZX (.lzx)
 * MAFF (Mozilla web archive; uses ZIP for compression)
 * MAr (Melting-Pot)
 * MDCD (.md)
 * Micrognosis Compression Archiver (MAR)
 * MPC (Marco Czudej) (.mp3)
 * MSXiE (.xie)
 * MZP
 * NaShrinK (.nsk)
 * Now Compress
 * NuFX (.bxy)
 * OOP
 * oPAQue
 * PA (PowerArchiver)
 * packARC (.pja)
 * Packdir (RISC OS)
 * PACKER (ImagiSOFT)‎ (The Finishing Touch)
 * PackIt (.pit)
 * PAK (.pak) - various formats
 * PAK (ARC extension)
 * PAQ (.pa6, .pa7, .pa8, others)
 * PAQJ (.qar)
 * PC-Shrink (.shr)
 * PCX Library (.pcl)
 * PEA (PeaZIP) (.pea)
 * PerfectCompress (.uca)
 * PIM (.pim)
 * PKARC/PKPAK
 * PLA (ARCHICAD Archive) (.pla)
 * PMA (.pma)
 * PPMd
 * Pretty Simple Archiver (.psa)
 * PUT (MicroFox) (.put)
 * Quadruple D Archiver (.qda)
 * Quantum compressed archive (.q)
 * QuARK (.ark)
 * RAR (.rar)
 * RARC (Nintendo)
 * RAX
 * RK (WinRK)
 * RKIVE (.rkv)
 * S7z (.s7z)
 * SAR (a SAP archive format; also see CAR)
 * SAR (Streamline Design)
 * SARJ (.srj)
 * Scifer (.sen, .ba, .xml)
 * ShrinkIt (.shk)
 * SKY
 * Slim!
 * Softlib (Softdisk Publishing) (.slb)
 * Spark (.spk)
 * SQLite Archive (SQLAR)
 * Squash (.arh)
 * Squeeze It (.sqz)
 * SQWEZ 2.x (.sqz)
 * SQX (.sqx)
 * StuffIt (.sit)
 * StuffIt X (.sitx)
 * SuperPack (.spa)
 * TBAFS (RISC OS)
 * TSComp (.tsc)
 * UFA
 * UHARC (.uha)
 * UltraCompressor II (.uc, .uc0, .uc2, .ucn, .ur2, .ue2)
 * VEM (Sony Virtual Expander]
 * WARC (.warc, .warc.gz)
 * WACZ (packaged warc)
 * X (X1) (.x)
 * xar (Extensible Archive) (.xar)
 * XP3 (.xp3) - used in KiriKiri Adventure Game System
 * xpa32 (.xpa)
 * XPACK archive (.xpa)
 * YAC (.yc)
 * Yamazaki zipper archive (.yz1) - used in DeepFreezer
 * ZAR (Zip-Archiv)
 * Zet
 * ZIP (.zip)
 * Zipx (.zipx)
 * Zoo (.zoo)
 * ZPack (LeadRDRK)
 * ZPack [Lite] (.zpk) - See Z/Install
 * ZPAQ
 * Zzip (.zz)

Diff files
(containing only the parts of a file that have changed, so they can be applied to an existing file to update it; used for update distribution and incremental backups)


 * ACB
 * binpatch (Jaap Korthals Altes)
 * BinPatch (Kay Hayen)
 * bsdiff
 * Courgette
 * diff
 * FidoNet nodediff
 * GDIFF
 * IPS (binary patch format)
 * JSON Patch
 * LDArc and LDIFF (.lzd)
 * RTPatch
 * Unified diff
 * UPS (binary patch format)
 * VCDIFF

See also Data differencing.

Encrypted or cryptographically signed archives

 * SDN (SDN Project)
 * XIP
 * ZED

File splitting
(1 file => multiple files. Most file splitting utilities just produce raw file fragments, and don't have a native file format. But some use a container format, and some create a separate "control" file for metadata.)


 * AS/ZC (Zip Chunker)
 * AUTOCHOP
 * LambChop
 * SPLIT (M. Dingacci)

Also, the two sorts of Horcrux, Horcrux (jesseduffield) and Horcrux (kndyry), are split-and-encrypted files.

Filesystem backup and restoration
Formats designed for backing up disks, usually specifically targeted at particular filesystems (but backing it up in the form of file structures, not raw sector images like Disk Image Formats).
 * BACKUP (MS-DOS)
 * BlockHashLoc
 * Partimage
 * ufsdump
 * Unix dump
 * Windows Imaging Format (.wim, .swm)

See also Backup.

Institutional archiving

 * ARK (identifier for archived documents)
 * OAIS (Open Archival Information System, an organization that does archiving)
 * Planets Core Registry
 * PRONOM
 * PUID
 * SIRF (Self-Contained Information Retention Format)
 * Submission Information Package
 * UPF (Universal Preservation Format)

Metadata formats

 * Archive Team hostname file
 * CDX (associated with web archives)
 * DFDL (Data Format Description Language) - a file format for describing file formats
 * FilmConservationMetadata
 * Internet Archive metadata
 * mtree
 * Portland Common Data Model
 * TOSEC Naming Convention
 * Web Archive Metadata File (metadata for WARC)

(see also Metadata, Bibliographic data)

Program/App/Applet/Installer specialized archive formats

 * Adobe Air
 * APK (Android app)
 * XAPK
 * OBB
 * Bundle file (Linux)
 * Bundle file (OS X)
 * Cabal
 * Cakewalk Bundle (BUN)
 * Cakewalk Bundle (CWB)
 * Cross-Platform Installer Module
 * deb (Debian package)
 * Eschalon Setup archive (.arv)
 * FIZ
 * Garc archive (.gar)
 * Image Packaging System (IPS) archive (.p5p)
 * Image Packaging System (IPS) manifest (.p5m)
 * Inno Setup self-extracting archive
 * InstallShield
 * InstallShield archive (IBT)
 * InstallShield CAB
 * InstallShield installer archive
 * InstallShield Self-Extracting EXE
 * InstallShield Z
 * IPA (.ipa) => iOS app in archived form; actually in zip format
 * IRIX software distribution format (.idb, etc.)
 * Jar (.j, .jar) (Java) => this is just a renamed zip file with some mandatory files
 * LIF (Knowledge Dynamics)
 * Meta-Package File (.mpkg) (Mac OS X)
 * Microsoft Update Standalone Package
 * NSIS (Nullsoft Scriptable Install System)
 * Olive (executable virtual-machine archive of software)
 * Package File (OS X) (.pkg)
 * PackageForTheWeb
 * PC-Install (20/20 Software) - See also PC-Shrink.
 * QIP (Quarterdeck)
 * RED (Knowledge Dynamics)
 * RPM (RedHat Package Manager)
 * Setup Factory (Indigo Rose Software)
 * SIS (Symbian)
 * Snap
 * SWG (SWAG)
 * Unity package file
 * WAD (Wii)
 * Windows Installer (.msi, .msp)
 * Wise installer package
 * XAR (Executable Archive)
 * Z/Install
 * ZSoft ZPK2
 * Zune HD Application File (.zcp)

Self-extracting archives
(in addition, some of the other archivers are able to produce executable files for some platform which include the archived data and a program to extract them, and generally have the file extension normal for executables, such as .exe for DOS/Windows. In many cases, if you rename the extension to the appropriate one for the archive type involved, e.g., .zip, the file will open in the appropriate archiver, which is handy for extracting them on systems not compatible with the original executable.)
 * COMPACK / BUILDSFX
 * LHA/LHarc self-extracting archive
 * NETSEND
 * PMsfx
 * SDA (Self Dissolving Archive)
 * SEA (StuffIt) (StuffIt Self-Extracting Archive)
 * Self-extracting ZIP
 * SFX (Self-Extracting Archive)
 * shar (Shell Archive, in Unix-like systems)
 * SQWEZ

Software
Refer to Compression and archiving software.

Transfer formats
(encapsulate a system-specific file structure to make it compatible with foreign systems, file transfer protocols, etc.)
 * AppleDouble
 * AppleSingle
 * Bento (1990s Apple cross-platform compound content format)
 * Binary II (.bny) (for Apple II series) (often squeezed as .bqy)
 * BinHex (.hqx)
 * GEOS Convert (.cvt)
 * MacBinary
 * MAR Utility
 * oric-dsk-manager exported file
 * TI variable file

For low-level transfer encodings, see Transfer Encodings.

Uncategorized

 * Cache Directory Tagging Standard
 * Content Addressable Archive (CAR)

Links

 * Torture-testing Backup and Archive Programs: Things You Ought to Know But Probably Would Rather Not
 * Discussion of proposed top-level MIME type for 'archive'
 * What Do you Mean by Archive? Genres of Usage for Digital Preservers