200 KB TAR sample

A TAR file of exactly 204,800 bytes. It is a valid Tape archive file, generated by this site. Compare its checksum and test it with the parser used by your application. Use it wherever you need a 200 KB sample, test or dummy TAR file.

sample-tar-200kb.tar

200 KB204,800 bytes

Download 200 KB TAR

Created in your browser in a few seconds, then checked against the SHA-256 checksum. The file is not uploaded anywhere. No sign-up.

Type: application/x-tar
SHA-256: ae4276e8773e1b677a4aa2be58036d17b45f6670fdc81d8165bbfd9ac7e7d375
Delivery: Created in your browser from static generator assets (how it works).

What is in this file

A ustar archive with a README and payload.bin, 202,240 pseudo-random bytes, followed by the two zero blocks that end every tar archive.

Entries	2 (README.txt, payload.bin)
Format	POSIX ustar
Compression	None
Block size	512 bytes

First bytes of the file

The first 64 bytes of sample-tar-200kb.tar as a hex dump: offset, bytes, then the same bytes as text. The TAR signature is 75 73 74 61 72 at offset 257.

00000000  52 45 41 44 4d 45 2e 74  78 74 00 00 00 00 00 00 |README.txt......|
00000010  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000020  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000030  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|

Preview

TAR files cannot be shown in a browser. Download the file and open it in an application that reads TAR, such as tar on Linux, macOS and Windows.

Where 200 KB matters

A 204,800-byte file: twice the default body limit of most API frameworks, and a common cap for photo and signature uploads on application forms. These are the default limits a file of this size is useful for testing:

System	Limit	Note
Express body parsers	100 KB by default	Rejected with 413 unless the limit is raised.
Amazon DynamoDB items	400 KB per item	200 KB fits, even after base64 encoding takes it to about 273 KB.
Azure Service Bus, Standard tier	256 KB per message	Fits as raw bytes, but not once base64-encoded.

All 200 KB sample files

Use this file for

Checking email size handling
Testing container and package pipelines
Testing archive extraction on servers

Testing notes for TAR

There is no index, so listing the contents means reading the whole archive.
Like ZIP, tar entries can contain absolute paths or "../", and can be symbolic links. Validate before extracting.

TAR format reference

Technical details

File name	sample-tar-200kb.tar
Format	TAR (Tape archive)
Extension	.tar
MIME type	application/x-tar
Size	204,800 bytes (200 KB)
Kind	Binary
Signature	75 73 74 61 72 at offset 257
SHA-256	ae4276e8773e1b677a4aa2be58036d17b45f6670fdc81d8165bbfd9ac7e7d375
Created	2026-10-23
Validation	See the listed size and SHA-256. Small downloads are checked in the browser; verify streamed downloads manually. A hash match does not prove parser compatibility.
Preview	Not available for this file; details only
Source	Generated in your browser by this site's generator; not copied from elsewhere
Licence	Free to use, modify and redistribute (terms)
Category	Archives

Check the stated structure and checksum against your application requirements. As with any download, scan the file with your own security tools before opening it. How files are made and checked

Verify your copy

This file is created in your browser, so it has no direct URL for curl or wget. The generator is designed to produce reproducible bytes. After saving, compare the checksum with the SHA-256 value above.

sha256sum sample-tar-200kb.tar     # Linux
shasum -a 256 sample-tar-200kb.tar # macOS

On Windows, run Get-FileHash sample-tar-200kb.tar -Algorithm SHA256 in PowerShell. For scripts and pipelines, save the file once and keep your own copy.

Related files

Questions about this file

Is this file exactly 200 KB?: Yes. It is 204,800 bytes, which is 200 KB in the binary units that operating systems and server limits use (1 KB = 1,024 bytes).
What is inside the 200 KB TAR file?: A ustar archive with a README and payload.bin, 202,240 pseudo-random bytes, followed by the two zero blocks that end every tar archive.
Why is there no 1 KB TAR sample?: A tar archive is built from 512-byte blocks and ends with two empty blocks, so the smallest archive containing a README and a payload is larger than 1 KB.

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