Bulk delete “Zone.Identifier” Files with a Bash Trick

Ever stumbled upon those pesky “Zone.Identifier” files cluttering up your directories? Ugh, so annoying, right? That’s what I had today when I tried to copy some of the downloaded files from my Windows 11 desktop to a directory from WSL. Well, I’ve got a quick fix for you using a nifty bash command.

Just open up your terminal and paste in this magic line:

find . -type f -name '*Zone.Identifier' -exec rm -f {} \;

Let’s break it down:

1. find .: Tells the system to start the hunt from where you currently are (your current directory).
2. -type f: Narrows it down to only regular files. We don’t want to mess with anything else.
3. -name '*Zone.Identifier': Targets only those files with the annoying name ending.
4. -exec rm -f {} \;: Boom! This part does the heavy lifting, forcefully deleting those annoying files without begging for your permission.

This command is like a broom for your file system, sweeping away those “Zone.Identifier” nuisances. Super handy if you’re all about keeping things neat and tidy.

Few things to keep in mind – make sure you’re in the right directory before hitting enter. We don’t want any accidental file casualties!

So, there you have it. A simple bash command to kick those irritating files to the curb. Happy cleaning! 👋🧹