---
name: "lzmainfo"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "xz"
version: "5.8.4-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux", "freebsd"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/lzmainfo"
---

# lzmainfo(1)

show information stored in the .lzma file header

## NAME

lzmainfo - show information stored in the .lzma file header

## SYNOPSIS

**lzmainfo** \[**--help**\] \[**--version**\] \[*file...*\]

## DESCRIPTION

**lzmainfo** shows information stored in the **.lzma** file header. It reads the first 13 bytes from the specified *file*, decodes the header, and prints it to standard output in human readable format. If no *files* are given or *file* is **-**, standard input is read.

Usually the most interesting information is the uncompressed size and the dictionary size. Uncompressed size can be shown only if the file is in the non-streamed **.lzma** format variant. The amount of memory required to decompress the file is a few dozen kilobytes plus the dictionary size.

**lzmainfo** is included in XZ Utils primarily for backward compatibility with LZMA Utils.

## EXIT STATUS

- **0**

  All is good.

- **1**

  An error occurred.

## BUGS

**lzmainfo** uses **MB** while the correct suffix would be **MiB** (2^20 bytes). This is to keep the output compatible with LZMA Utils.

## SEE ALSO

[**xz**(1)](/xz/1.md)