HatchZipCLI + GUIA 180 GB archive that unpacks to 200 GB needs 380 GB of disk with WinRAR, 7-Zip or unzip, because the archive and the extracted files have to exist at the same time. HatchZip needs a little over 200 GB: it extracts from the end of the archive and cuts each finished part off the archive file, so the space comes back as it goes.
Free and open source for Windows, macOS and Linux. Includes both a native Desktop GUI (with right-click context menu integration) and the hatchzip / hz command-line tool.
Unsigned binary notice: HatchZip is not code-signed yet. On Windows SmartScreen, choose "More info" → "Run anyway". On macOS, open the app once, then allow it in System Settings → Privacy & Security. Older Intel Mac? Get the Intel .dmg.
Every operating system and filesystem (including FAT32 and exFAT) can shorten a file from the end. ZIP and 7z keep their index at the very end, so HatchZip first copies that index into <archive>.hatchzip-tail, then extracts independent units (files or solid blocks) starting from the last one and truncates the archive after each committed batch.
A .tar.gz is a single compressed stream decoded from the front. HatchZip scans the entire stream first to verify all gzip CRC-32s before changing anything. It then extracts front-to-back, journaling deflate block restart points (plus the 32 KiB sliding window) every 256 MiB and punching holes in the consumed archive bytes on NTFS, APFS, ext4, XFS, and btrfs.
Before modifying anything, HatchZip replays the entire extraction schedule to find the exact moment of peak disk usage (output plus the largest single unit or solid block). By default it keeps 2 GB of free space untouched (--keep-free) so your OS disk never hits zero.
Every file is checked against its CRC-32 as it extracts; a damaged file stops the run immediately and remains inside the archive. Existing files are never overwritten. Path traversal, overlapping entries, duplicate paths, and setuid/setgid bits are refused upfront; symlinks are created only after all regular files land.
Pick uncommitted units from the tail that fit in current free space minus --keep-free (up to 512 units / 2 GB).
Worker threads decompress units into <name>.hatchzip-part, verify CRC-32 and byte length, then rename into place.
Force data to physical media via syncfs (Linux), F_FULLFSYNC (macOS), or per-file/directory fsync.
Write updated committed_len to temporary journal, flush, and atomically rename over <archive>.hatchzip.
Shorten the archive file (or delete emptied split volumes) down to committed_len, freeing disk blocks for the next batch.
| Platform | Package / Archive | Format & Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Windows 10 & 11 (x64) | HatchZip-x64-setup.exe | Installer (per-user, adds context menu, no admin needed) |
| macOS Apple Silicon (M1+) | HatchZip-aarch64.dmg | Disk image (.dmg) |
| macOS Intel | HatchZip-x86_64.dmg | Disk image (.dmg) |
| Linux x64 (Any distro) | HatchZip-x86_64.AppImage | AppImage |
| Debian / Ubuntu (x64) | hatchzip_amd64.deb | deb package |
| Fedora / openSUSE (x64) | hatchzip-x86_64.rpm | rpm package |
| Platform | Package / Archive | Format & Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Windows x64 | hatchzip-x86_64-windows.zip | zip |
| macOS Apple Silicon | hatchzip-aarch64-macos.tar.gz | tar.gz |
| macOS Intel | hatchzip-x86_64-macos.tar.gz | tar.gz |
| Linux x64 | hatchzip-x86_64-linux.tar.gz | tar.gz |
| Linux ARM64 | hatchzip-aarch64-linux.tar.gz | tar.gz |
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/xevrion/hatchzip/main/install.sh | shirm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/xevrion/hatchzip/main/install.ps1 | iexcargo install hatchzip$ hatchzip check game.zip
game.zip 180.2 MB zip, 200.0 MB uncompressed in 22 entries
available 50.5 MB
standard extraction needs 200.0 MB
required 29.9 MB (+5.0 MB reserved)
available after 30.6 MB$ hatchzip extract game.zip # extracts into ./game/ and removes game.zip as it goes
$ hatchzip extract game.zip -o D:\Games\Foo # extract to another path
$ hatchzip x game.7z.001 # split archive; passing any volume name finds the whole set
$ hatchzip extract rare.zip --verify-first # read & verify every checksum before deleting any bytes$ hatchzip extract game.zip # press Ctrl+C (or after power loss): run the exact same command to resume
$ hatchzip restore game.zip # abort permanently: appends a fresh index so 7-Zip/unzip can open remaining entries
$ hatchzip list game.7z # list entries and sizes without changing anything
$ hatchzip test game.7z # verify all checksums without writing output| Flag / Env | Behavior |
|---|---|
-o, --output <dir> | Output directory. Defaults to a folder named after the archive next to it (must be empty or not exist yet). |
--keep-free <size> | Safety margin of free disk space HatchZip never touches (e.g. 500MB, 10GB). Default: 2GB. |
--verify-first | Read the entire archive and verify every checksum before deleting anything. Recommended for irreplaceable downloads. |
-y, --yes | Skip confirmation prompt. Required for non-interactive scripts. |
--password / HATCHZIP_PASSWORD | Decrypt password-protected ZIP (ZipCrypto/AES) and 7z (AES + encrypted headers). Tested on one file before deleting anything; never saved to disk. |
| Exit Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
0 | Done — extraction or check completed. |
1 | General failure. If extraction had started, progress is safely saved in .hatchzip. |
2 | Invalid command-line arguments or usage. |
3 | Not enough free disk space. Nothing was changed. |
4 | Damaged or hostile archive refused. Nothing was deleted. |
5 | Password required or incorrect password supplied. |
130 | Stopped with Ctrl+C. Run the same command again to resume. |
| Archive Workload | unzip / 7-Zip | HatchZip Result |
|---|---|---|
| ZIP, 180 MB | [FAIL]unzip ran out of space at file 6 of 21 | [PASS]Finished, every file byte-identical |
| 7z from 7-Zip 25.01, -ms=20m (10 solid blocks) | [FAIL]Needs 380 MB | [PASS]Finished in 0.64 s, every file byte-identical |
| 7z split into 5 volumes of 40 MB (.7z.001 … .005) | [FAIL]Needs 380 MB | [PASS]Finished; volumes deleted one at a time, peak 210 MB used |
| tar from GNU tar, 200 MB | [FAIL]Needs 400 MB | [PASS]Finished in 0.12 s, every file byte-identical |
| 7z from 7-Zip with default settings (1 solid block) | [FAIL]Needs 380 MB | [SAFE REFUSAL]Refused before touching anything: one solid block can't be freed until all of it is out, so it needs 200 MB free |
Against 1.48 – 1.50 s for unzip 6.00 on the same data, including an fsync that unzip skips. (Single giant files extract at single-core speed.)
Extracted on a 950 MiB tmpfs with 367 MB free via 256 MiB hole-punching steps (down from 629 MB without streaming).
Process killed with SIGKILL at both unsafe moments of a batch across many points of each format; every resume produced identical output.
Test environment: Fedora 43, Intel Core i7-14700HX, SK Hynix NVMe SSD, warm page cache; disk-space tests used a 220 MiB tmpfs to simulate a nearly full laptop drive, speed runs used ext4.
| Format | Support Details | Space Freed In Steps Of |
|---|---|---|
| ZIP, ZIP64, self-extracting .exe | Supported. Tested: Stored, Deflate, Deflate64, bzip2, LZMA, PPMd, Zstandard, and entries > 4 GiB. | One file (or 256 MiB via hole punching for Stored/Deflate files ≥ 512 MiB) |
| 7z (solid & non-solid) | Supported. Tested with 7-Zip 25.01: LZMA2, LZMA, BCJ+LZMA2, bzip2, Deflate, PPMd. | One solid block (or one file in non-solid archives) |
| tar (uncompressed) | Supported, including GNU/PAX long names, symlinks, and hard links. | One file (or 256 MiB via hole punching for files ≥ 512 MiB) |
| .tar.gz / .tgz (including pigz / bgzip & .tar.gz.001) | Supported. Pre-scanned from start to end before changes; frees space on hole-punching filesystems (NTFS, APFS, ext4, XFS, btrfs). On FAT32/exFAT it still extracts & resumes but needs full space. | 256 MiB of uncompressed output |
| Split archives (.001, .002, …) of ZIP or 7z | Supported (byte-split sets as created by 7-Zip). | One file or block; each volume file is deleted as soon as it is emptied |
| Password-protected ZIP & 7z | Supported (ZipCrypto, ZIP AES, 7z AES including encrypted file lists). Password verified on one file before any deletion. | Same as unencrypted |
| .tar.zst, .tar.xz, RAR, native .z01 split ZIP | Not supported yet — safely refused before extraction starts. | N/A (Planned) |
A 7z created with 7-Zip's default settings can place the entire archive into one solid block. Because a solid block can only be freed once all of it is decoded, HatchZip needs free space for that whole block. hatchzip check tells you before anything is modified.
Because the archive is truncated as files hatch, if your downloaded archive is corrupted midway (in ZIP/7z/tar), files extracted before the damaged entry come out and that portion of the archive is already gone. Pass --verify-first when you cannot re-download the archive.
While an extraction is paused or interrupted, <archive>.hatchzip and <archive>.hatchzip-tail hold the archive central directory/index that was already truncated off the end of the archive. Keep them until extraction finishes or hatchzip restore is run.
On copy-on-write filesystems (btrfs, APFS), blocks referenced by an active snapshot are not reclaimed until the snapshot is deleted. On FAT32 and exFAT, tail truncation works for ZIP/7z/tar, but .tar.gz hole punching is unavailable.