What Is Zone Identifier

What it is

Zone.Identifier is Windows-only metadata stored as an NTFS Alternate Data Stream (ADS).
Why it exists

Windows uses it to mark files downloaded from the Internet for security purposes.
Why it appears on macOS/Linux

NTFS ADS is hidden on Windows, but when files are copied, zipped, or committed to Git and then opened on non-Windows systems, the metadata becomes a visible file:
```
filename:Zone.Identifier
```
Is it dangerous?

❌ No.

It contains only text metadata and is safe to delete.
Should it be in Git?

❌ Never.

It has no meaning outside Windows.

What to do

Delete existing files:

find . -name'*:Zone.Identifier' -delete