engrampa

Start Engrampa

$ engrampa

$ engrampa [path/to/archive1.tar path/to/archive2.tar ...]

$ engrampa --add-to=[path/to/compressed.tar] [path/to/file_or_directory1 path/to/file_or_directory2 ...]

$ engrampa --extract-to=[path/to/directory] [path/to/archive1.tar path/to/archive2.tar ...]

engrampa [OPTION...] [URI...]

--add-to=FILENAME
    Add files to specified archive

--add-with-password
    Prompt for password when adding to archive

--create=FILENAME
    Create new archive with selected files

--default-dir=DIR
    Set default directory for file chooser

--decompress-to=DIR
    Extract archive contents to directory

--extract
    Extract archive (prompt for destination)

--extract-here
    Extract with full paths in current directory

--extract-to=FILENAME
    Extract archive to specific location

--folder=URI
    Target folder for extraction

--force-show
    Always open window even if one exists

--help, -h
    Display help message

--new-window
    Open in a new window

--password=PASSWORD
    Provide archive password directly

--quit
    Quit the application

--view=URI
    Open archive for viewing/editing

--version
    Show version information

Engrampa is the default archive manager for the MATE desktop environment, forked from GNOME's File Roller. It provides a user-friendly graphical interface for creating, viewing, extracting, and modifying various archive formats including TAR, GZIP, BZIP2, ZIP, RAR, 7z, and more.

It supports drag-and-drop operations, batch processing from the command line, password-protected archives, and multi-volume archives. Users can add, delete, or rename files within archives without extraction. The tool integrates seamlessly with MATE file manager Caja, allowing context-menu archive operations.

Command-line usage enables automation for tasks like extraction or creation without the GUI. It's lightweight, extensible via plugins, and handles large archives efficiently. Ideal for desktop users preferring a simple, familiar interface over terminal tools like tar or unzip.

GUI-focused; limited batch scripting compared to CLI tools. RAR support requires unrar package. Not installed by default on all distros.

TAR, GZIP, BZIP2, LZMA, ZIP, RAR, 7-Zip, ISO, LHA, ARJ, and more via backends.

Processes multiple URIs sequentially. Combine with --extract-here for scripts; no piping support.

Originated as File Roller in GNOME (1999). Forked for MATE in 2011 to match MATE's GTK2/Hibiscus theme. Actively maintained; latest versions support modern formats like XZ and Zstandard.

file-roller(1), ark(1), xarchiver(1), tar(1), unzip(1)