You're here because you have a file that has a file extension ending in .lz. Files with the file extension .lz can only be launched by certain applications. It's possible that .lz files are data files rather than documents or media, which means they're not meant to be viewed at all.

The Lempel-Ziv-Markov chain compression algorithm, also known as the LZMA archiving format, implements compression specifications into a Lzip Compressed File. These Lzip compressed files are also integrated with encoding specifications used for the LZ compressed file format. This means these Lzip compressed files are stored in the LZ format and are generally classified as compressed files. These Lzip compressed files can be created using the Lzip software, which is a file compression and decompression program. Affixed with the .lz extension, a Lzip compressed file is implemented with better compression ratios than the standard compression output that the BZIP2 compression algorithm can provide. A 32-bit CRC checksum functionality is also integrated into these Lzip compressed files to validate the structural integrity of each file (in its uncompressed format) stored in the LZ file. There are versions of the Lzip file compression and decompression software developed for Linux platforms and Mac systems, while computers running on Microsoft Windows-based systems can also be installed with another version of the Lzip program to implement support into the system for creating and decompressing these LZ files.

Launch a .lz file, or any other file on your PC, by double-clicking it. If your file associations are set up correctly, the application that's meant to open your .lz file will open it. It's possible you may need to download or purchase the correct application. It's also possible that you have the correct application on your PC, but .lz files aren't yet associated with it. In this case, when you try to open a .lz file, you can tell Windows which application is the correct one for that file. From then on, opening a  .lz file will open the correct application. Click here to fix .lz file association errors

Be careful not to rename the extension on .lz files, or any other files. This will not change the file type. Only special conversion software can change a file from one file type to another.

A file extension is the set of three or four characters at the end of a filename; in this case, .lz. File extensions tell you what type of file it is, and tell Windows what programs can open it. Windows often associates a default program to each file extension, so that when you double-click the file, the program launches automatically. When that program is no longer on your PC, you can sometimes get an error when you try to open the associated file.