How to extract images from a CBZ without uploading it
Every "free" online CBZ tool you have used uploads your archive to a company server, extracts it there, and — in several documented cases — keeps a copy or a live download link for days, or limits free users to a few conversions a month. For comics you bought, were sent in confidence, or simply would not post publicly, that is an unnecessary risk. The safer approach is to extract the file where it already is: on your own device.
This tool does exactly that. When you drop a CBZ here, your browser:
- Checks the file is really a CBZ archive — by its magic bytes, not its name — so a JPEG renamed .cbz is refused with a clear message, a CBR (RAR) renamed .cbz is refused with a pointer at the Extract Images from CBR tool, a PDF renamed .cbz is refused with a pointer at the Extract Images from PDF tool, a DOCX renamed .cbz is refused with a pointer at the Extract Images from DOCX tool, an XLSX renamed .cbz is refused with a pointer at the Extract Images from XLSX tool, a PPTX renamed .cbz is refused with a pointer at the Extract Images from ODP tool, a plain .zip of documents is refused with a pointer at the CBR tool and the CBZ to EPUB converter, and a password-protected archive is refused with an explanation instead of a cryptic error. A real CBZ saved with the wrong extension still extracts — and a renamed .zip of photos extracts the same way.
- Reads the archive and pulls the images in natural-sort page order — the filenames decide the order, so page 2 comes before page 10 even when the archive lists image10 first, and every image is labelled with its page number. ComicInfo.xml, Thumbnails, text notes, hidden files, macOS entries and folder entries are skipped, and everything skipped is listed on the archive card.
- Hands you the originals — download one image and it keeps its original filename; download the archive as a ZIP and every image is renamed image-01, image-02 and so on in page order. Nothing is re-encoded, rasterized or resized at any point: the bytes you download are the bytes that were stored in the archive.
What makes this extractor different
Most pages that top the results for this search convert on a server, or handle one file at a time with no previews — instead of handing you the images themselves. The desktop options are installs, not browser tools. This page does the simpler job, and does it fully in the browser: no upload, no monthly cap, no account, no 10 MB limit, a batch of 20 archives, natural-sort page order with every image labelled by page, original filenames on per-image downloads, sequential names in the ZIP, and a live network-request counter so you can verify the privacy claim yourself.
Honest limitations
Verbatim means verbatim — no quality recovery
JPEG throws away detail when it compresses, and extracting cannot put it back. But nothing is lost either: the source bytes download unchanged, in every format. There is no quality setting because there is nothing to re-encode.
Metadata stays in the files
Extraction copies the stored bytes, so EXIF and other metadata inside each image is kept — including location data, if the image has any. The archive's own files, like ComicInfo.xml, are skipped and listed on the card, but the images themselves are untouched. Strip metadata yourself before sharing an image publicly.
EMF and WMF preview
EMF and WMF images are extracted as-is, exactly as stored. Most browsers cannot display them, so the page shows a note instead of a broken image in that case, with the format and size shown. The file itself still downloads byte-for-byte and opens in any viewer that supports the format.
Page order is the natural sort of the filenames
A CBZ has no manifest — the filenames decide the order. If the files inside the archive are misnamed (a cover named zzz.jpg, or pages numbered without padding), the pages still come out in natural-sort order: page 2 before page 10, but a file named zzz.jpg sorts last. Rename the files inside the archive with your zip tool to fix the order; the tool never guesses.
Password-protected archives
A CBZ with the encryption flag set on its entries is refused outright — this page never asks for a password. Open it in your comic reader or zip tool with the password and save an unprotected copy, then extract that.
No text extraction, and ComicInfo.xml is metadata
This tool pulls out images only: it does not extract text, and ComicInfo.xml — title, series, author — is skipped and listed on the card, never extracted. The metadata stays in the archive file.
A CBZ is just a ZIP
A renamed .zip of photos extracts the same way as a CBZ, because that is all a CBZ is. A plain .zip of documents, with no page images at all, is refused — and a RAR archive renamed .cbz is refused too, with a pointer at the Extract Images from CBR tool.
CBR files need the CBR tool
A CBR is a RAR archive, not a ZIP, so this page cannot open it — use the Extract Images from CBR tool, which reads RAR archives the same way this page reads CBZ archives. To turn a CBZ into a readable ebook instead, use the CBZ to EPUB converter.