Zone.Identifier Files when downloading from Windows to WSL file structure

[ameya-jain]

When downloading a file from an online source lets say this image or a zip folder and directly saving it to the WSL file structure using the Microsoft Edge 'save as' option ( I have turned off the default download location so edge asks me every time where I should save something downloaded), when the download is complete I see these Zone Identifier files.

I read about a similar #4609 issue and from what I understand is that these files shouldn't be downloaded or should be removed after download.

My Ubuntu specifications :

My windows :

[YAMLcase]

Is there a workaround for this?

[ameya-jain]

Is there a workaround for this?

I usually use VS Code and is connected to my WSL. Instead of directly downloading the files from the browser to WSL, I download to windows, open the WSL folder in VS Code and then drag and drop the files from windows to VS Code. This seems to not bring the Zone.Identifier files.

[Volper212]

I download to windows, open the WSL folder in VS Code and then drag and drop the files from windows to VS Code.

That's another step though, I think deleting the zone identifier file is less work since you only have to delete it at the end of your work, not every time you download. You can technically even keep it and just add it to .gitignore but it would be cool if you could disable generating the file completely, or just not generate it if it's empty anyway

[rehanhaider]

I can confirm this issue still exists on Windows 11, even though it was supposed to be fixed. Steps to reproduce are

1. Open any webpage and download an image, similar to this sample image
2. In the "Save As" dialogue, choose "Linux -> Ubuntu" and browse to folder of choice, and save
3. Creates a file with name <download-file-name>:Zone.Identifier

[JacobDB]

I'm also still seeing this in Windows 11, any time I download a file and copy it over to WSL via File Explorer, along comes a :Zone.Identifier.

[Kai-Richardson]

As the filer of the original issue, I can confirm this is still not fixed for either Windows 10 or Windows 11.
Exact same reproduction steps I outlined here still work:

1. Navigate to an image url.
2. Right click and Save Image As
3. Choose location on my Windows NTFS C: Drive, such as C:\Users\zekai\Desktop
4. Drag (Click and hold) or copy/paste (CTRL+C & CTRL+V) PNG file to a WSL filespace, such as \\wsl$\Ubuntu\home\cassini\github
5. Nothing appears at first, but click the refresh button on explorer.exe in the top right.
6. Notice new Zone.Identifier file.

[MattDirty]

Problem arised for me when I went from my Windows 10 Pro N to a clean install of Windows 11 Pro N. I thought the issue was me switching my daily driving wsl distro from Ubuntu to Manjaro but after installing Ubuntu, the problem is also there. So the culprit must be my new Win11 install.

I could spin up my old Win10 to see what were my config (I'm pretty sure Windows Defender was deactivated). I had to activate TPM for Win11, other than that my hardware stayed the same.

Let me know if replugging my Win10 drive to test and gather the config differences is something that could help.

Side note: ZoneIdentifier files are also created when copying from Manjaro to Ubuntu via explorer.exe.

[mattwelke]

Having this problem in Windows 10 Pro. Copied a file from one File Explorer window to another, where the first one was my Downloads directory on the Windows side and the second one was a WSL 2 directory.

I was able to delete the file via VS Code's GUI after I closed all my File Explorer windows (before closing them, it said "this file is in use" etc). I wasn't able to delete the file from the WSL 2 terminal. It was as if the WSL 2 terminal couldn't target the file using the rm command. And rm *Identifier said an error like "not a file".

[dtromans]

It's funny how the original issue was closed as "fixed" when the supposed fix never landed outside of insider/preview builds.

[saurav-codes]

this issue still exists in windows 11. please fix this ASAP

[brunocantuaria]

Still happens here as well, on Windows 11

[ferrouswheel]

The Zone.Identifier file has host and referer urls, which can contain query string access tokens. While any decent web service should expire tokens, potentially having plaintext credentials lying around in files is... a little dodgy.

Would be nice for this to be resolved.

[MatthewMierzwa]

This issue also happens on my Win 10 build 19042 & WSL 2 running Ubuntu.

[minh14496]

The issue still persists on Window 11 21H2.