unzone

A simple, safe utility to find and delete Zone.Identifier files.

What are Zone.Identifier files?

When files are downloaded from the internet or transferred from other security zones in Windows, the OS creates hidden :Zone.Identifier alternate data stream files. When these files are copied to Linux or Mac systems (or accessed via WSL), they appear as separate files with the suffix :Zone.Identifier.

This tool helps clean them up.

Features

• ✅ Safe by default - Non-recursive by default, requires -r flag for subdirectories
• ✅ Confirmation prompts - Always asks for confirmation before deletion (configurable)
• ✅ Configurable - Set your preferred behavior globally
• ✅ Cross-platform - Works on Windows, Linux, and macOS
• ✅ No dependencies - Uses only Python standard library
• ✅ Verbose mode - See exactly what's being processed
• ✅ Smart error handling - Handles permission issues gracefully

Installation

pip install unzone

Usage

Basic usage (interactive)

# Scan current directory only (non-recursive)
unzone

# Scan current directory and all subdirectories
unzone -r

# Scan specific directory (non-recursive)
unzone /path/to/directory

# Recursively scan specific directory
unzone -r /path/to/directory

# See detailed output
unzone --verbose

Configuration

# Configure default behavior (one-time setup, runs first time you use unzone)
unzone --configure

This lets you choose whether to always ask for confirmation or auto-delete. Your choice is saved globally.

Command-line flags

# Recursive scan
unzone -r
unzone --recursive

# Force deletion without confirmation (for scripts)
unzone --force

# Force confirmation prompt (override config when set to automatically delete)
unzone --confirm

# Verbose output
unzone --verbose

# Show version
unzone --version

# Show help
unzone --help

Examples

# Clean current directory only
unzone

# Clean current directory and all subdirectories
unzone -r

# Clean Downloads folder (non-recursive)
unzone ~/Downloads

# Recursively clean Downloads folder
unzone -r ~/Downloads

# Automated cleanup in a script (recursive)
unzone -r ~/Downloads --force

# Override auto-delete config for this run
unzone ~/Downloads --confirm

Configuration File

Configuration is stored at:

• Linux/Mac: ~/.config/unzone/config.json
• Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\unzone\config.json

You can edit this file manually or use unzone --configure.

How It Works

1. Scans the specified directory (use -r for recursive subdirectory scanning)
2. Finds all files ending with Zone.Identifier
3. Asks for confirmation (unless configured otherwise or --force is used)
4. Deletes the files and reports results

Safety Features

• Non-recursive by default - Only scans the current directory unless -r is specified
• Confirmation prompts - Won't delete anything without your approval (by default)
• Graceful error handling - Continues processing even if some files can't be deleted
• Clear reporting - Shows exactly what was deleted and any errors
• Targeted deletion - Only removes files ending with Zone.Identifier

License

MIT License - See LICENSE file for details

Contributing

Issues and pull requests welcome at https://github.com/spenquatch/unzone