$ touch file1

$ ls -al file1
-rw-r--r-- 1 mtitek mtitek 5632 Feb  3 21:01 file1

$ gzip file1

$ ls -al file1.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 mtitek mtitek 242 Feb  3 21:01 file1.gz

• This will decompress the file "file1.gz" and rename it to "file1":

  $ gzip -d file1.gz
  

  $ ls -al file1
  -rw-r--r-- 1 mtitek mtitek 5632 Feb  3 21:01 file1
  

• You can use gunzip to decompress the file "file1.gz" and rename it to "file1":

  $ gunzip file1.gz
  

  $ ls -al file1
  -rw-r--r-- 1 mtitek mtitek 5632 Feb  3 21:01 file1
  

• Use the -k option to keep the original file:

  $ gzip -k file1
  

  $ ls -al file1*
  -rw-r--r-- 1 mtitek mtitek 5632 Feb  3 21:01 file1
  -rw-r--r-- 1 mtitek mtitek  242 Feb  3 21:01 file1.gz
  

• Use the -l option to view compression statistics:

  $ gzip -l file1.gz
           compressed        uncompressed  ratio uncompressed_name
                  242                5632  96.8% file1
  

• You can compress multiple files at once:

  $ gzip file1 file2 file3
  

  $ ls -al file*.gz
  -rw-r--r-- 1 mtitek mtitek 242 Feb  3 21:01 file1.gz
  -rw-r--r-- 1 mtitek mtitek 156 Feb  3 21:01 file2.gz
  -rw-r--r-- 1 mtitek mtitek 089 Feb  3 21:01 file3.gz
  

• Use -1 for fastest compression or -9 for best compression:

  $ gzip -1 file1    # fastest compression
  $ gzip -9 file1    # best compression
  

• Use the -t option to test file integrity:

  $ gzip -t file1.gz
  

  If the file is corrupted, you'll see an error message. No output means the file is intact.

• Use -c to write to stdout and keep the original file:

  $ gzip -c file1 > file1.gz
  

  $ ls -al file1*
  -rw-r--r-- 1 mtitek mtitek 5632 Feb  3 21:01 file1
  -rw-r--r-- 1 mtitek mtitek  242 Feb  3 21:01 file1.gz
  

• Use zcat to view the contents of compressed files:

  $ zcat file1.gz
  

  You can also use zless or zmore for paging through large files.