WSL Remove Zone.Identifier Files

Support for removing Zone.Identifier files in Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).

This repo offers 2 different methods.

Method 1: Enable Local Group Policy

Open the Local Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc).
User Configuration > Admistrative Templates > Windows Components > Attachment Manager
Enable the "Do not preserve zone information in file attachments" policy.

This method will prevent Windows from marking downloads with a zone identifier. According to Microsoft, this may make your computer more "insecure", so we provide an alternative method to remove these files.

Method 2: Automated File Removal

For Windows 11 and Windows 10 Insider Build 21286+

Clone the repository to your Linux home directory

git clone https://github.com/evanyeyeye/wsl-removezone.git ~/.wsl-removezone

Add this command option under the boot section in /etc/wsl.conf

[boot]
command="~/.wsl-removezone/removezone.sh"

Create a 1-line start.bat file in your Windows startup directory (Win+R, shell:startup)

wsl ls /