CHZ File

What are CHZ files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening a CHZ file or are you simply curious about its contents? We're here to explain the properties of these files and provide you with software that can open or handle your CHZ files.

What is a CHZ file?

A .CHZ file is a ChArc Compressed Archive file.

ChArc Compressed Archive files store collections of files bundled and compressed by the ChArc utility, a software tool for DOS from around 1990. They package multiple files together in a single archive, reducing both storage and transfer overhead. ChArc was sold commercially in the late Soviet era and some versions produced archives that could extract themselves.

These archives are read by the ChArc program or compatible unpacking tools that support this old DOS-era format. Metadata such as the names, sizes, and timestamps of contained files are stored inside the archive. Typically the workflow involves creating the archive using ChArc, distributing or storing it, then extracting its contents with ChArc or a specialized extractor.

Recent documentation is scarce and mostly in Russian. The format is largely obsolete and not supported by many modern compression tools, though some web extractors and archive utilities can recognize and unpack CHZ archives.

Files in this format begin with a four-byte ASCII signature "SChF" at byte offset 0, which serves as the identifier that a file is a ChArc Compressed Archive.

How to open CHZ files

Important: Different programs may use files with the CHZ file extension for different purposes, so unless you are sure which format your CHZ file is, you may need to try a few different programs.

While we have not verified the apps ourselves yet, our users have suggested three different CHZ openers which you will find listed below.

Last updated: August 31, 2026

Various apps that use files with this extension

These apps are known to open certain types of CHZ files. Remember, different programs may use CHZ files for different purposes, so you may need to try out a few of them to be able to open your specific file.

Help us help others

File.org helps thousands of users every day, and we would love to hear from you if you have additional information about CHZ file formats, example files, or compatible programs. Please use the links below or email us at submit@file.org to discuss further.