compressed files
 

all my downloads are compressed, how do i unzip them?.

What downloads? Compressed how? Details please!

Most file managers, when you right-click on a file to bring up the context menu, offer a "decompress" option.

If they are *.tar files of any type (tar.gz, tar.bz2, etc.) files, tar -xvf [filename] should work on the command line.

If they are *.rar files, you will need to find an unrar command if none is installed. See man unrar. If there is no mah(ual) entry for unrar, it's a safe bet no "unrar" is installed.

For *.zip files, see man unzip.

And details help persons answer your question; too much detail is better than too little. This link will help ask Linux Questions.

I'm editing my comment because it's been pointed out to be incorrect. frankbell and evo2 are correct that you don't need to specify the file type on modern tars. I should have tested it out before posting. My apologies for an incorrect statement.

Hi,
No, what Frank posted was correct. "Modern" versions of tar will automatically determine if the file is compressed (and what the compression algorithm is) and decompress it without additional flags on the command line.

Which is usesless if xz, bzip2, or whatever was used.

Best way is to let tar work it out for you.

Evo2.