M2TS to TAR Converter
Processing entirely on your device — large files may take a moment.
TAR preserves the exact file tree and permissions that Linux tooling expects. If your files are still in M2TS format, this page is the shortcut: M2TS is the Blu-ray and AVCHD camcorder transport stream — high-quality footage that most phones, social apps and editors refuse to open directly.
iLoveConverter processes everything locally on your computer, which makes it private and fast: no upload wait, no server storage, no limits. Add as many files as you like — batch conversion is built in.
How M2TS compares to TAR
| M2TS | TAR | |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | MPEG-2 / H.264 inside | None (pair with gzip/zstd) |
| Best for | Camera footage and disc structures | Linux packaging and source trees |
How to convert M2TS to TAR
- 1
Select your files
Select your M2TS file — it never leaves your device.
- 2
Convert instantly
The engine packs the file, byte for byte, into a TAR container — no re-encoding, no quality change.
- 3
Download results
Download the finished TAR archive.
About the M2TS format
M2TS is the transport stream of Blu-ray discs and AVCHD camcorders: MPEG-2 or H.264 video in fixed 188-byte packets, built for broadcast-style resilience rather than compactness. Copy a camcorder's clips off its card and you are holding M2TS files; so is most of a decrypted Blu-ray folder structure.
The format plays in VLC and a handful of editors, but phones, social platforms and web apps reject it. Converting to MP4 is the standard hand-off: the video re-encodes to H.264 at your chosen quality and the result plays literally everywhere.
+Strengths
- ✓Broadcast-grade error resilience
- ✓Native to Blu-ray and AVCHD cameras
- ✓Carries high-bitrate, high-quality footage
!Limitations
- −Rejected by phones, web players and social platforms
- −Packet overhead inflates file size
About the TAR format
TAR (tape archive) is Unix's fifty-year-old answer to bundling: it concatenates files with headers into a single stream, preserving POSIX permissions, ownership and symlinks — but compressing nothing. It is the container half of the classic .tar.gz pairing and the native format of Linux source trees and backups.
Being pure bundling, TAR pairs with a compressor: gzip (the classic), bzip2, zstd. Alone, a TAR is the same size as its contents. Windows 10+ ships bsdtar, so even Windows can unpack it now — permissions aside, where NTFS has no room to be faithful.
+Strengths
- ✓Preserves Unix permissions and symlinks
- ✓Streamable: works over pipes and tapes
- ✓The standard of Linux distribution and backup
!Limitations
- −No compression by itself
- −No built-in encryption
- −Permissions meaningless on Windows filesystems
Why convert M2TS to TAR?
There is a concrete reason this conversion exists: Rejected by phones, web players and social platforms TAR sidesteps that — Preserves Unix permissions and symlinks If that is your situation, the tool above settles it in seconds, entirely on your device.
Frequently asked questions
Is this M2TS to TAR converter really free?
Yes — completely free, with no sign-up, no watermark and no daily conversion limits. The site is supported by advertising.
Are my files uploaded to a server?
No. The conversion runs entirely inside your browser using WebAssembly, so your files never leave your device — that is what makes it instant and private.
Does it work on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android?
Yes. Anything with a modern browser works: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS. No software installation is required.
Is there a file size limit for M2TS to TAR?
The only limit is your device's memory, since nothing is uploaded. Files up to a few hundred megabytes work fine on a modern desktop browser; very large files simply take a little longer.
Why is video conversion slower than image conversion?
Every frame has to be decoded and re-encoded. This site runs that work on your own CPU via WebAssembly — nothing is uploaded, but a multi-minute video reasonably takes a few minutes. Images, by comparison, are single-frame jobs.
Does converting M2TS to TAR re-encode my video?
Yes. The video is decoded and re-encoded with the settings chosen by the quality slider, which is what allows the format and size to change. For an archival copy, keep higher quality; for sharing, lower quality gives a much smaller file.