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How to open .GDZ files on Windows

To open .GDZ files on Windows, try opening the .GDZ file with a ZIP tool (e.g., File Explorer’s built-in ZIP support or 7-Zip) and extract it to a new folder.

Step-by-step instructions

  1. Try opening the .GDZ file with a ZIP tool (e.g., File Explorer’s built-in ZIP support or 7-Zip) and extract it to a new folder.
  2. Open the extracted .GED file with genealogy software that can import GEDCOM, and verify the media files are present in the extracted folder.

Alternative methods

  • Open .GDZ in a browser-based viewer if desktop apps fail.
  • Try opening .GDZ on Windows with a secondary app to rule out app-specific issues.
  • Convert .GDZ only with trusted tools when direct opening is not possible.

Common issues

The .GDZ file won’t open or extract

A .GDZ is a ZIP-based archive (GEDZIP). If extraction fails, the file may be incomplete/corrupted or your tool may not recognize the .gdz extension even though it is a ZIP container.

  1. Try opening/extracting it with a different ZIP tool that supports ZIP archives broadly (e.g., 7-Zip).
  2. If you received the file online, re-download it and compare file sizes; incomplete downloads commonly break ZIP extraction.

GEDCOM opens but media (photos/documents) are missing

GEDZIP is meant to include external files referenced by the GEDCOM, but media links can still break if files were not included, folder paths changed, or the GEDCOM references files not present in the archive.

  1. Make sure you extracted the entire .GDZ and kept the original folder structure intact.
  2. Check whether the referenced media files are actually present in the extracted folder; if not, ask the sender to re-export a complete GEDZIP package.

My genealogy app doesn’t recognize .GDZ

Some apps can import the .GED file but do not directly accept GEDZIP (.gdz) as an import source.

  1. Extract the .GDZ as a ZIP archive, then import/open the contained .GED file in your genealogy program.
  2. If your app supports importing media, point it to the extracted media folder when prompted.

Security note

.GDZ is a ZIP archive and may contain any file types; treat it like any downloaded archive and be cautious with unexpected executables or scripts included inside.

Back to .GDZ extension page