[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"howto:lz4:mac:en":3},{"resolvedFromAlias":4,"canonicalExt":5,"ext":5,"name":6,"category":7,"categoryName":8,"updatedAt":9,"os":10,"osLabel":11,"quickSolution":12,"stepByStep":13,"recommendedSoftware":16,"alternativeMethods":17,"commonIssues":18,"securityNote":37,"extensionPath":38,"extensionLabel":39,"breadcrumbs":40,"metaDescription":50},false,"lz4","LZ4 frame-compressed file","archives","Archives","2026-06-12T09:12:42.320Z","mac","Mac","To open .LZ4 files on Mac, open Terminal and make sure the lz4 CLI is installed and available in your PATH.",[14,15],"Open Terminal and make sure the lz4 CLI is installed and available in your PATH.","Decompress to a file: run \"lz4 -d input.lz4 output\" or stream to stdout with \"lz4cat input.lz4 > output\".",[],[],[19,25,31],{"title":20,"description":21,"steps":22},"Decompression fails with “not a valid LZ4 frame” or similar","Many tools expect the LZ4 Frame format (with the frame magic number). If the data was stored as raw LZ4 blocks (no frame header) or is not LZ4 at all, frame-based decoders will reject it.",[23,24],"Verify the file really is LZ4 frame-compressed and not a different format that happens to use .lz4.","If you control the producer, prefer generating standard LZ4 Frame format output for .lz4 files (so common tools can decode it).",{"title":26,"description":27,"steps":28},"You decompressed it, but the output file “still won’t open”",".lz4 only describes compression, not the underlying file type. After decompression you may get a tar archive, a log, a database dump, or other binary data that needs its own viewer/extractor.",[29,30],"Decompress to a new file rather than overwriting, so you can inspect the result: \"lz4 -d input.lz4 output\".","Identify the decompressed output type and open it with the appropriate tool (for example, if it’s a tar archive, extract it with a tar tool).",{"title":32,"description":33,"steps":34},"Unexpected output size or “No space left on device”","Compression can drastically reduce stored size; decompressed output can be much larger. Some LZ4 frames may also omit content-size metadata, making it harder to predict the final size before decoding.",[35,36],"Ensure you have enough free disk space for the fully decompressed output.","If you only need to read the contents, consider streaming with lz4cat and processing the data without writing a full intermediate file (e.g., redirect stdout to another command).",".lz4 files are not executable by themselves, but decompression produces arbitrary data; treat the decompressed output as untrusted until you know what it is.","/file-extension/lz4",".LZ4",[41,44,47],{"label":42,"to":43},"Home","/",{"label":45,"to":46},"How To","/file-extension",{"label":48,"to":49},"Open .LZ4 on Mac","/how-to/open-lz4-on-mac","Learn how to open .LZ4 files on Mac with step-by-step instructions, recommended software, and troubleshooting tips."]