This is a list of file formats used by archivers and compressors used to create archive files.
Archive formats are used for backups, mobility, and archiving. Many archive formats losslessly compress the data to consume less storage space and result in faster transfer times as the same data is represented by fewer bytes. Another benefit is that files are combined into one archive file which has less overhead for managing or transferring. Archive formats are used by Unix-like and Windows operating systems to package software for easier distributing and installing than binary executables.