---
name: "zst"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "zst"
version: "0.4-1"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/zst"
---

# zst(1)

compress or decompress .zst/.bz2/.gz/.xz files

## NAME

zst - compress or decompress .zst/.bz2/.gz/.xz files

## SYNOPSIS

**zst** \[*options*\] *files*...

## DESCRIPTION

The **zst** command can reduce the size of files by using a number of popular compression algorithms; in this version these are *zstd*, *bzip2*, *xz*, *gzip* -- and decompress them back.

While these compressors' native tools may expose more options specific to the algorithm in question, **zst** unifies them with common functionality.  Eg, only **gzip** and **zstd** can recurse with **-r**, **zstd** defaults to *-k* and its levels go up to 19 rather than 9, etc.

The default compressor is *zstd* as it's fastest while also compressing well; you may want to use *xz* instead when disk space / network bandwidth is at premium.  On the other hand, neither *gzip* nor *bzip2* are a superior choice in any case but especially *gzip* is entrenched for historical reasons.

## OPTIONS

**Mode of operation**

- **-z**

  Compress (default).  The file will be replaced by a compressed copy with an appropriate suffix added: *.zst*/*.bz2*/*.xz*/*.gz* according to the algorithm used.

- **-d**

  Decompress.  Files without a known suffix will be left untouched.

- **-t**

  Test the integrity of compressed files; this is functionally same as decompression redirected to */dev/null*.

**Modifiers**

- **-c**

  Write compressed or decompressed data to standard output.  This implies **-k**. For compression, if the stdout is a terminal, **-f** must be also specified.

- **-k**

  The source file won't be removed after \[de\]compression.

- **-f**

  Will overwrite existing files.  Allows writing compressed data to a terminal.  When **-c** is given and the data is not in the expected format, it will be passed through unmodified.  Allows compressing a file that's already compressed.

- **-r**

  If a directory is among file names specified on the command line, all files inside will be processed, possibly recursing into directories deeper in.

- **-1**..**-9**

  Compression level: **-1** is the weakest but fastest level the algorithm knows, **-9** is strongest and slowest.  Note that unlike the **zstd** tool, the scale is 1..9 for all algorithms -- level 9 corresponds to what **zstd** knows as 19.

  The defaults are: zst 2, bz2 9, gz 6, xz 6.

- **-v**

  List all processed files.  When compressing, the old, new, and percentage of required size is given.

- **-q**

  Suppress all warnings.  Unrelated to **-v**.

- **-n**

  Ignored; for compat with **gzip**.

- **-F**

  Specify compression algorithm to use.

## RETURN VALUE

**1** if any errors happened, **2** if there's a warning but no errors, **0** if all went ok.

## SEE ALSO

[**zstd**(1)](/zstd/1.md), [**bzip2**(1)](/bzip2/1.md), [**gzip**(1)](/gzip/1.md), [**xz**(1)](/xz/1.md).