diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 591493488..ca9d4e870 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -12,12 +12,14 @@ require (
 	github.com/google/go-cmp v0.7.0
 	github.com/google/uuid v1.6.0
 	github.com/hako/durafmt v0.0.0-20210608085754-5c1018a4e16b
+	github.com/klauspost/compress v1.18.1
 	github.com/kovidgoyal/dbus v0.0.0-20250519011319-e811c41c0bc1
 	github.com/kovidgoyal/go-parallel v1.1.1
 	github.com/kovidgoyal/go-shm v1.0.0
 	github.com/kovidgoyal/imaging v1.8.17
 	github.com/seancfoley/ipaddress-go v1.7.1
 	github.com/shirou/gopsutil/v4 v4.25.10
+	github.com/ulikunitz/xz v0.5.15
 	github.com/zeebo/xxh3 v1.0.2
 	golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20230801115018-d63ba01acd4b
 	golang.org/x/image v0.33.0
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index a0b41fb52..18b9b20af 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ github.com/hako/durafmt v0.0.0-20210608085754-5c1018a4e16b/go.mod h1:VzxiSdG6j1p
 github.com/hexops/gotextdiff v1.0.3 h1:gitA9+qJrrTCsiCl7+kh75nPqQt1cx4ZkudSTLoUqJM=
 github.com/hexops/gotextdiff v1.0.3/go.mod h1:pSWU5MAI3yDq+fZBTazCSJysOMbxWL1BSow5/V2vxeg=
 github.com/jessevdk/go-flags v1.4.0/go.mod h1:4FA24M0QyGHXBuZZK/XkWh8h0e1EYbRYJSGM75WSRxI=
+github.com/klauspost/compress v1.18.1 h1:bcSGx7UbpBqMChDtsF28Lw6v/G94LPrrbMbdC3JH2co=
+github.com/klauspost/compress v1.18.1/go.mod h1:ZQFFVG+MdnR0P+l6wpXgIL4NTtwiKIdBnrBd8Nrxr+0=
 github.com/klauspost/cpuid/v2 v2.2.5 h1:0E5MSMDEoAulmXNFquVs//DdoomxaoTY1kUhbc/qbZg=
 github.com/klauspost/cpuid/v2 v2.2.5/go.mod h1:Lcz8mBdAVJIBVzewtcLocK12l3Y+JytZYpaMropDUws=
 github.com/kovidgoyal/dbus v0.0.0-20250519011319-e811c41c0bc1 h1:rMY/hWfcVzBm6BLX6YLA+gLJEpuXBed/VP6YEkXt8R4=
@@ -56,6 +58,8 @@ github.com/tklauser/go-sysconf v0.3.15 h1:VE89k0criAymJ/Os65CSn1IXaol+1wrsFHEB8O
 github.com/tklauser/go-sysconf v0.3.15/go.mod h1:Dmjwr6tYFIseJw7a3dRLJfsHAMXZ3nEnL/aZY+0IuI4=
 github.com/tklauser/numcpus v0.10.0 h1:18njr6LDBk1zuna922MgdjQuJFjrdppsZG60sHGfjso=
 github.com/tklauser/numcpus v0.10.0/go.mod h1:BiTKazU708GQTYF4mB+cmlpT2Is1gLk7XVuEeem8LsQ=
+github.com/ulikunitz/xz v0.5.15 h1:9DNdB5s+SgV3bQ2ApL10xRc35ck0DuIX/isZvIk+ubY=
+github.com/ulikunitz/xz v0.5.15/go.mod h1:nbz6k7qbPmH4IRqmfOplQw/tblSgqTqBwxkY0oWt/14=
 github.com/yusufpapurcu/wmi v1.2.4 h1:zFUKzehAFReQwLys1b/iSMl+JQGSCSjtVqQn9bBrPo0=
 github.com/yusufpapurcu/wmi v1.2.4/go.mod h1:SBZ9tNy3G9/m5Oi98Zks0QjeHVDvuK0qfxQmPyzfmi0=
 github.com/zeebo/assert v1.3.0 h1:g7C04CbJuIDKNPFHmsk4hwZDO5O+kntRxzaUoNXj+IQ=
diff --git a/kittens/choose_files/archive.go b/kittens/choose_files/archive.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5ab1684e3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kittens/choose_files/archive.go
@@ -0,0 +1,153 @@
+package choose_files
+
+import (
+	"archive/tar"
+	"compress/bzip2"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"io/fs"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/klauspost/compress/gzip"
+	"github.com/klauspost/compress/zip"
+	"github.com/klauspost/compress/zstd"
+	"github.com/ulikunitz/xz"
+
+	"github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty/tools/utils"
+)
+
+var _ = fmt.Print
+
+func IsSupportedArchiveFile(abspath string) bool {
+	name := strings.ToLower(filepath.Base(abspath))
+	ext := filepath.Ext(name)
+	switch ext {
+	case ".zip", ".tgz", ".tbz2", ".tzst", ".txz":
+		return true
+	case ".gz", ".bz2", ".zst", ".xz":
+		name = name[:len(name)-len(ext)]
+		ext = filepath.Ext(name)
+		return ext == ".tar"
+	default:
+		return false
+	}
+}
+
+type archive_preview struct {
+	path             string
+	metadata         fs.FileInfo
+	WakeupMainThread func() bool
+	ch               chan *MessagePreview
+	mp               *MessagePreview
+}
+
+func displayFilename(s string) string {
+	if isPrintableUTF8(s) {
+		return s
+	}
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%X", utils.UnsafeStringToBytes(s))
+}
+
+func isPrintableUTF8(s string) bool {
+	for _, r := range s {
+		if r == '\uFFFD' { // replacement char
+			return false
+		}
+	}
+	return true
+}
+
+func (p *archive_preview) render() {
+	name := strings.ToLower(filepath.Base(p.path))
+	ext := filepath.Ext(name)
+	names := []string{""}
+	populate_tar := func(r io.Reader) {
+		tr := tar.NewReader(r)
+		for len(names) < 500 {
+			hdr, err := tr.Next()
+			if err != nil {
+				break
+			}
+			names = append(names, displayFilename(hdr.Name))
+		}
+	}
+	switch ext {
+	case ".zip":
+		r, err := zip.OpenReader(p.path)
+		if err == nil || errors.Is(err, zip.ErrInsecurePath) {
+			defer r.Close()
+			for _, f := range r.File {
+				if f.NonUTF8 {
+					names = append(names, displayFilename(f.Name))
+				} else {
+					names = append(names, f.Name)
+				}
+
+			}
+		}
+	case ".gz", ".tgz":
+		if f, err := os.Open(p.path); err == nil {
+			defer f.Close()
+			if gz, err := gzip.NewReader(f); err == nil {
+				defer gz.Close()
+				populate_tar(gz)
+			}
+		}
+	case ".xz", ".txz":
+		if f, err := os.Open(p.path); err == nil {
+			defer f.Close()
+			if gz, err := xz.NewReader(f); err == nil {
+				populate_tar(gz)
+			}
+		}
+	case ".bz2", ".tbz2":
+		if f, err := os.Open(p.path); err == nil {
+			defer f.Close()
+			populate_tar(bzip2.NewReader(f))
+		}
+	case ".zst", ".tzst":
+		if f, err := os.Open(p.path); err == nil {
+			defer f.Close()
+			if gz, err := zstd.NewReader(f); err == nil {
+				defer gz.Close()
+				populate_tar(gz)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	mp := *p.mp
+	mp.trailers = append(mp.trailers, names...)
+	p.ch <- &mp
+	p.WakeupMainThread()
+}
+
+func (p *archive_preview) IsReady() bool                         { return true }
+func (p *archive_preview) Unload()                               {}
+func (p *archive_preview) IsValidForColorScheme(light bool) bool { return true }
+func (p *archive_preview) String() string                        { return fmt.Sprintf("ArchivePreview{%s}", p.path) }
+
+func (p *archive_preview) Render(h *Handler, x, y, width, height int) {
+	if p.ch != nil {
+		select {
+		case mp := <-p.ch:
+			p.mp = mp
+			close(p.ch)
+			p.ch = nil
+		default:
+		}
+	}
+	p.mp.Render(h, x, y, width, height)
+}
+
+func NewArchivePeview(
+	abspath string, metadata fs.FileInfo, opts Settings, WakeupMainThread func() bool,
+) Preview {
+	mp := NewFileMetadataPreview(abspath, metadata)
+	ans := &archive_preview{
+		path: abspath, metadata: metadata, WakeupMainThread: WakeupMainThread, ch: make(chan *MessagePreview, 1), mp: mp,
+	}
+	go ans.render()
+	return ans
+}
diff --git a/kittens/choose_files/preview.go b/kittens/choose_files/preview.go
index 0fb48f4d2..1b63702d1 100644
--- a/kittens/choose_files/preview.go
+++ b/kittens/choose_files/preview.go
@@ -354,6 +354,9 @@ func (pm *PreviewManager) preview_for(abspath string, ftype fs.FileMode) (ans Pr
 	case strings.HasPrefix(mt, "video/"):
 		return NewFFMpegPreview(abspath, s, pm.settings, pm.WakeupMainThread)
 
+	case IsSupportedArchiveFile(abspath):
+		return NewArchivePeview(abspath, s, pm.settings, pm.WakeupMainThread)
+
 	case IsSupportedByCalibre(abspath):
 		return NewCalibrePreview(abspath, s, pm.settings, pm.WakeupMainThread)
 	}